New Bill needed to stop rates on empty business properties being refunded

Holyrood will have to pass new legislation after an error was discovered which means councils have had no legal basis to levy non-domestic rates on empty properties for more than two and a half years.

A Bill could be passed by MSPs as early as Thursday this week to correct the situation – if the timetable at Holyrood allows.

Public finance minister Ivan McKee said that Non-Domestic Rates (Liability for Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Bill would allow for non domestic rates to be charged on owners of unoccupied business properties – with this to be backdated to April 2023.

Ministers had intended that the Non Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 would give councils powers to charge rates on vacant non-domestic properties.

This repealed previous legislation which states no rates were payable on empty business properties – but the Act failed to take account of previous laws dating back to 1956.

Without the new legislation being passed by Holyrood, rates paid by owners of empty properties since April 2023 would have to be paid back to them.

Mr McKee said the Bill being put forward by ministers would “bring the statute book into line with Parliament’s intention to devolve empty property relief to local authorities, and with the way the non-domestic rates system has been operating in practice since April 1 2023”.

He added: “There will be no change to rates bills as a result of this legislation and the Bill will not introduce any additional new costs to businesses or individuals compared to the Scottish Parliament’s original intended policy.”