Businesses should not depend on the accuracy of new rateable values published online last month by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) warns Peter Gould, associate and rating specialist at the Birmingham office of chartered surveyors & property consultants Gerald Eve. New rateable values for 1.75 million commercial and other non-domestic properties across England and Wales have been published on-line at www.voa.gov.uk Using the assessments, due to come into effect next April, businesses can use Governments new rate liabilities calculator at www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk to work out an estimate of their 2005 rates bill. Mr Gould urged businesses to be cautious on two counts. He said: Do not assume the assessment of rateable value is accurate and do not expect the forecast bills for 2005 to remain constant in future years. The VOA has made significant steps this year aimed at helping businesses to understand the rate system more easily and making its valuations as transparent as possible in a continuing drive to reduce the number of appeals challenging their assessments. Over the coming weeks, many businesses will be notified not only of their new assessment but they will also receive a summary valuation. This will set out a line-by-line calculation of the assessed rateable value and will enable ratepayers to check the accuracy of the factual information the VOA has used. The summary valuations will also be available online with a very effective search facility, allowing business ratepayers to compare the values applied to their space with those for other similar properties. Unfortunately a significant gap in the VOAs communications plan is now apparent, and up to 400,000 businesses will not receive any communication from either the VOA or from Government. Mr Gould said: The summary valuations are a large step in the right direction towards transparency but its hugely disappointing that they arent providing this information to everyone. Unless ratepayers are kept informed by their rating advisers or read about the availability of the new assessments in the press, they may remain unaware of the revaluation process and its effects until new rate bills arrive next spring. The VOAs on-line valuations only reveal how the rateable value has been calculated. To gain a prediction of the likely rates payable in 2005, ratepayers can go to a separate Government website to use a rate bill indicator. "This two-step process is likely to add unnecessary confusion for businesses looking to budget for their rate bill in 2005. | 
