Hoteliers have been warned to act quickly if they are to secure thousands of pounds in business rate refunds.
Thousands of hotel owners may be eligible for a refund, but many are unaware of the March 31 deadline for claims relating to overpayments in the past five years. According to rating specialists CVS, hoteliers are overpaying their business rates by an average of 13.4 per cent each year.
Business rates are partly determined by the Rateable Value of a property, which was last set in the 2005 Ratings List. A number of high profile hotels have already challenged their Rateable Values - London's Lanesborough has made savings of around £1 million as a result of a successful challenge.
But hotels of any size may have a claim. The average savings from a successful challenge are around £21,000
Claims relating to Rateable Values from the past five years will no longer be accepted after March 31, as the 2010 Ratings List will be published the following day. This will set the Values by which new business rates will be judged. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) currently sets Values for hotels by looking at the level of service offered and the hoteliers' expertise, as well as the value of the property itself.
Many business groups have called on the VOA to take into account falling property prices when making its new calculations.
