Set up paperless billing
It only takes a few minutes to fill in the form and to help make a difference.
You will need the following:
- Your Falkirk Council 8 digit Business Rates account reference number on your latest bill
- The name of your business as shown on your latest bill
- The postcode of the business premises
Apply for Business Rates e-billing
Non-Domestic Rates is a tax on properties or subjects that are entered on the valuation roll. Ratepayers must register for Non-Domestic Rates by supplying a copy of their signed lease; rental agreement or licence to occupy document by emailing the rates section at revenues9@falkirk.gov.uk or by sending to:
We are responsible for the collection of all business rates on behalf of Scottish Government for all Non-Domestic subjects within Falkirk Local Authority. Ratepayers will be issued with a rates bill detailing the rates charge and when instalments are due to be paid. Instalments are payable on the 1st of each month unless payment is made by direct debit.
The amount we collect is paid into the national Non-domestic rates pool. This is then redistributed by central government to Councils in the form of grants to help pay for services.
There are a number of different reliefs available to ratepayers. Please follow link in the menu on the right of this page. If you require assistance to determine which relief you may be entitled to please contact the rates section, and our details are below.
Please be aware you are not exempt from rates if your property has a rateable value under £18,000. You may be entitled to Small Business Bonus Relief; please apply online if you think you qualify.
If you no longer lease a property, please email or write to the rates section to advise.
If you sell or purchase a property please have your solicitor complete the form 'Business Rates - Change of Property Ownership.
From 01 April 2021 councils may request information from a proprietor, tenant or occupier. You must respond to this request within 21 days. Failure to do so may result in a civil penalty of up to £370. You must notify your Council of a change in occupier of a property within 42 days. Failure to do so may also result in a civil penalty of up to £370.
If you are having problems paying your non domestic rates you should contact us immediately. Please read our debt recovery policy for more information.
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Debt recovery policy
DOCX file, 50.1 KB
A valuation roll listing all properties that have to pay non-domestic rates is kept by the Assessor for Central Scotland. The Assessor also determined the rateable value (RV) of each property. If you no longer own or lease a property please also contact The Assessor for Central Scotland so that the valuation roll can be updated.
Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have developed a new business rates bill calculator to estimate your business rates bill and a plain English business rates guide:
There are mandatory and or discretionary reliefs available. You should contact the Non-domestic Rates team to check eligibility and to make an application. You can contact the Non-domestic Rates team on:
Important tax information for tenants of commercial property
Devolved tax legislation implemented on 01 April 2015 mean that some tenants in Scotland must, by law, submit a new tax return to Revenue Scotland every 3 years to ensure they have paid the correct amount of LBTT. The first time a 3 year lease review return became due was therefore 2018.
A return has to be submitted:
- every 3 years from the effective date of the lease
- at the point where the lease is assigned
- at the point where the lease is terminated
It is the responsibility of the tenant to submit the return – even if the lease has not changed or if no tax is due. Failure to do so will result in a penalty.
For further information please visit www.revenue.scot/leases.
Business Rates (Non-Domestic Rates) Freedom of Information requests
We receives a number of requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which relate to Business Rate accounts (non-domestic properties).
To address these requests, we publish a list of details of business rates properties within Falkirk Council. This list is published each month and contains the following information:
- Ratepayer name
- Rateable value
- Property description
- Liability start date
- Property address
- Occupation Status (Occupied or Empty)
- Exemption
- Mandatory relief
- Discretionary relief
- Small Business Bonus
- UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number)
We will not provide individual responses to FOI requests for information which can be found in the published document but will re-direct requests to our published list which can be accessed below:
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NDR Freedom of Information
XLSX file, 493.9 KB, Updated: 04 September 2024
The information is considered to be exempt from release under section 25 of the FOI legislation as it is reasonably obtainable by another means, namely via our monthly publication.
Limitation of data.
The ratepayer is the person liable to pay the charge. Only the property address will be provided. The information is only available in the format provided.
Scottish Assessors Association Portal
The information which we publish is similar to that included on the Valuation Roll. This is a public document which contains an entry for all non domestic properties. You can find out more on the Scottish Assessors Association Portal.
Publication of Relief Recipients
The independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates published its final report on 22 August 2017, and recommendation 10 was that a full list of recipients of rates relief should be published to improve transparency. This recommendation has been implemented from 2021, and quarterly reports will be published below using the format provided by Scottish Government.
Frequently asked questions
- What if I don’t agree with the valuation of my property?
- What if I don’t agree with my bill?
- What if my circumstances change?
- What happens if I don’t pay on time?
What if I don’t agree with the valuation of my property?
Contact the Assessor for Central Scotland by emailing assessor@centralscotlandvjb.gov.uk or by calling 01786 892200.
Appeals cannot be accepted more than six months after the date that you first purchased or occupied a property.
What if I don’t agree with my bill?
You can only appeal against the amount of your bill if you think it has been assessed incorrectly.
To appeal, you must write to the Revenues Manager, Non-Domestic Rates Section, PO Box 21764, Falkirk, FK1 9GJ or email to revenues9@falkirk.gov.uk within 28 days of receiving your bill.
You must continue to make payments while waiting to hear the outcome of your appeal.
What if my circumstances change?
If you qualify for mandatory and or discretionary rates relief, you must tell us if your circumstances change as this may affect the relief you are entitled to.
You must contact us when you take over a business property. If you are the tenant of a rented property and you are giving up your tenancy, you will need to write to us to provide a forwarding address. We will contact your landlord to ask for written confirmation of your tenancy details. When we receive this information, we will end your responsibility and issue you with a new bill.
If you are selling a property, please ask your solicitor to provide us with written confirmation of the following details:
- Date of settlement
- Name and address of the buy
- Name and address of buyer's solicitor
When we receive this information, we will calculate the payments due by the seller and buyer. We will issue a new rates bill to the seller's solicitor. We will send a new rates bill to the buyer.
What happens if I don’t pay on time?
You could lose the right to pay by instalments and will have to pay the full balance. If you fall into arrears, we will send you a reminder requesting payment in full within 14 days. If you fail to pay, we will apply for a Summary Warrant which, once granted, will add a 10% Statutory Penalty to your account. If you still do not pay, your account may be passed to Sheriff Officers for collection.
If you are having any difficulty paying your rates, please contact us. If you owe multiple debts, you can obtain free advice from Falkirk Council’s Debt Advice Service. You can call them on 01324 506735.