Information on the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF)
Earlier in 2021 the government announced it would provide funding to local authorities so they could design relief schemes to help business adversely affected by Covid-19 but which didn’t qualify for any of the other Covid-19 non domestic rates reliefs. The guidance was published on 16 December 2021
Our CARF Relief Scheme
Our CARF relief scheme is a discount on the net 2021/2022 non-domestic rates bill for any day that an eligible property is occupied. The discount percentage is the same for all eligible ratepayers, and is subject to a maximum amount. CARF Relief will only be awarded for the property a ratepayer was occupying on 31 January 2022.
CARF Relief is a 28% discount of the net rates payable for occupied periods during 2021/2022. The maximum amount of the discount for any one account is £25,000
Our full CARF Relief policy provides further information.
Who is eligible for CARF Relief
You must meet certain eligibility criteria to receive CARF Relief:
- You must be adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,
- You must be occupying a property on the non-domestic rates list on 31 January 2022,
- You must have a business rates charge i.e. you are not receiving a 100% discount or small business rate relief
- You must not be eligible for the Expanded Retail Discount or Nursery Discount for the same period you are claiming CARF Relief for
- You are not occupying a property which is an excluded property type
- You will not breach the Subsidy Allowance limits by receiving the relief, and
- You are not a county, borough or parish council
In addition CARF Relief will only be awarded for days when an eligible property is occupied. It will not be awarded for any day a property is empty.
How to apply for CARF Relief
We automatically awarded CARF Relief to eligible businesses before 31 March 2022. Applications for the scheme are now closed and no new CARF relief can be awarded. We will still adjust existing awards of CARF Relief if your circumstances changed during 2021/2022.
You can view your business rates account online at MyRevenues. You will be able to see your account balance as well as any reliefs which have been awarded. You can also use MyRevenues to contact us.