Local authorities work out the Business Rates bill by multiplying the rateable value of the property by the appropriate multiplier. From 1st April 2005 there are two multipliers; the standard non-domestic rating multiplier and the small business non-domestic rating multiplier.
The former is higher to pay for small business rate relief. The Government sets the multipliers for each financial year for the whole of England. The Government normally changes both multipliers every year in line with inflation. By law, the multipliers cannot go up by more than the rate of inflation apart from some minor adjustments to counteract losses from appeals and, in relation to the standard multiplier, to pay for small business rate relief.
In the year of a revaluation it is set at a level that will keep the total amount raised in rates after the revaluation the same as before, plus inflation for that year.
The multipliers for 2008/09 are 0.462 for the standard non-domestic rate and 0.458 for the small business non-domestic rate.