What are Business Rates?
Why rates are collected
Business Rates are a government tax on business properties. Business Rates collected by the Royal Borough of Greenwich are paid into a central pool maintained by the government. The government then redistributes this money to local authorities on the basis of local population statistics.
Business rate supplement (BRS)
The Greater London Authority (GLA) introduced a levy of 2p on non-domestic properties with a rateable value of over £55,000 in London from 1 April 2010, to help pay for Crossrail.
The Crossrail BRS is collected on behalf of the GLA by the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation on the same bills as Business Rates.
Some categories of ratepayer such as charities and sports clubs may be entitled to full or partial relief on the BRS contribution.
Further information can be found on pages 16 to 17 in 'Your Council Tax Explained 2012 to 2013' booklet.