Charitable and CASC Reliefs

Charities are entitled to relief from their rate bill on any non-domestic property providing that the premises are used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes.

Mandatory relief is given at 80% of the bill.

In accordance with section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, the council has discretionary powers to grant additional Discretionary Rate Relief as per its current policy.

Certain non-profit-making bodies can apply for discretionary relief of up to 100%. This may apply where the main objectives are charitable or otherwise philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts. Relief may also be granted if the property is used mainly for recreation, and all or part of it is occupied for the purposes of a club, society or other organisation not established or conducted for profit.

To enable your application to be assessed, it is important that you clearly demonstrate in your application how your organisation contributes towards the council's priorities as outlined in the Borough Strategy.

To apply please download a mandatory or discretionary relief form, or contact the Business Rate team on 01744 675264.

Rate Relief for Community Amateur Sports Clubs

A business ratepayer who is a registered community amateur sport club (CASC) is eligible to 80% mandatory relief.

To apply please download a CASC relief form or contact the Business Rate team on 01744 675264.

If your club has not already achieved CASC status and you would like to do so, please contact HM Revenue & Customs for further help and advice.

Once CASC status has been achieved the club may also be eligible for up to a discretionary 20% top up to bring your rate relief up to 100%. To achieve this extra top up you will need to hold Sport England's Clubmark or an equivalent accreditation from your National Governing Body or St Helens District Sports Council. For more information on this, please contact Mark Jennings in the Sports Development team on 01744 675405.