Reliefs and Exemptions

On 15 December 2021 the government published the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund Local Authority Guidance and allocations.

Each council is responsible for designing the discretionary relief scheme that will operate in their area.  Awards can only be made to reduce the chargeable business rates in 2021/22 and the government has made clear that the following will not be eligible for the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF):

• ratepayers who for the same period of the relief either are or would have been eligible for the Extended Retail Discount (covering Retail, Hospitality and Leisure), the Nursery Discount or the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS)
• for a period when a property is unoccupied (other than property which has become closed temporarily due to the government's advice on COVID-19, which should be treated as occupied for the purposes of this relief)

Awards are likely to amount to a  Subsidy Allowance  and therefore any relief provided under this scheme will need to comply with the UK's domestic and international subsidy control obligations. 

There is no need for businesses to apply for this relief as the council has identified those businesses it will be supporting. The relief will be awarded through business rates accounts via our business rates system. Revised bills will then be issued showing the amount of relief awarded. 

Eligibility

• This relief is payable in the 2021-22 financial year only.
• Businesses must not have been eligible for existing business rates relief schemes, are deemed to have been adversely affected by the pandemic and have been unable to adequately adapt to that impact.
• Businesses that have received Expanded Retail Relief or Nursery Discount or those which are unoccupied in 2021-22 are ineligible for CARF. 
• Reliefs will be awarded after all other mandatory or discretionary reliefs have been applied.

To calculate the relief to be awarded, we have divided the £802,250 funding available, by the total liability of the eligible accounts.  This determines the percentage of relief each account will receive, irrespective of their rateable value.

Eligible properties will receive a discount of 50% relief for 2021-22 bills with the maximum relief being capped at £25,000. Read the full policy here  Torridge CARF Policy (PDF) [327KB]

The CARF Scheme closed on 30 September 2022. Any residual funds remaining have now been distributed on a pro-rata basis to the original recipients of relief through this scheme.