Prevent being bumped to Council Tax
Holiday Let Business Rates – Prevent being bumped to Council Tax (new annual form VO6048).
In spring 2023, you will have received correspondence from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) confirming your holiday homes rateable value. There was also a new Practice Note from the Valuation Office Agency issued in April 2023:
You will need to complete form VO6048 annually for all properties. The Short Form version of VO6048 now states that “If you don’t reply to this request for information within 56 days your property will be moved to the Council Tax list.”
Form VO6048 has existed for some time but has been significantly revised this year. The new government policy is:
• To require all self-catering business to complete form VO6048 each year, and
• To require all self-catering businesses to fulfil three criteria, to be registered for business rates In England.
The criteria are:
a) The owner of the business intends to let the property commercially for short periods totalling at least 140 days, over the next year
b) The property has been available to let commercially for short periods totalling at least 140 days over the previous year
c) The property has actually been let commercially for short periods totalling at least 70 days, over the previous year. Every property must now satisfy the 70-day occupancy requirement.
The purpose of the new government approach is to close what were seen as potential loopholes where second-home owners and similar could achieve a reduced tax liability by becoming liable to pay non-domestic rates instead of council tax, despite making few efforts to actually let their property for short periods. Consequently, the information being required on the new 2023 form is more searching than with the previous version of this form.
It is a legal requirement to fill in Form VO6048 within 56 days of receiving it. The fines for not doing so are an initial £100. If you don’t send it in within another 21 days it’s another £100 fine and then if you still don’t it’s a £20 fine per day (yes £600 per month) up to the total amount of your Rateable Value. The Short Form version of VO6048 now states that “If you don’t reply to this request for information within 56 days your property will be moved to the Council Tax list.”
If you require information for the VO6048 form, please contact your property manager in the first instance. We can advise or if we are provided a copy of the form, we will assist directly.
