The notice you receive - the individual valuations are also available for inspection on the Internet, at www.voa.gov.uk - explains how the VOA has calculated the rateable value of the property you occupy.

Essentially, the VOA works out the property's annual rental value based on the assumption that it was available to let on the open market at the valuation date.

Rateable value is important since your rate bill depends on your property's rateable value multiplied by a multiplication factor which is set each year by central government. This factor - the uniform business rate - is currently 45.6p for the tax year 2004-05, but will be revised by the chancellor for the next tax year beginning in April 2005.

It is expected that the new round of valuations will see steep increases for the retail sector, since, at the base time for the revaluations, rents in the retail sector were escalating (while those in the office sector were sluggish).

The British Retail Consortium estimates that, on average, rateable values in the retail sector will rise by 25%, which will mean a 6% increase in rate bills. As examples, most of the Bluewater retail centre in Kent will see rateable values go up by 54%, the JJB sports outlet in Gateshead will see its value increase by 76% and a fashion retailer in St Alban's will see an increase of over 140%.

It is essential that businesses read the notice they receive from the VAO carefully, since failure to check its contents could have major cost implications. If, though, businesses act promptly, they can help ensure that any new rating assessments are corrected before any incorrect rates demands are issued by their local authority.

Factual inaccuracies

If you discover any factual inaccuracies on your summary valuation notice, you should make the necessary amendments and send it back to your local VOA office as soon as possible. You should hear back from them within 20 days as to what action the VOA intend to take.

If you do not dispute the summary valuation presented to you by the VOA, there is nothing you need do - the summary valuation will be formally adopted for your property and your future rates bills will be based on it. If, however, you do dispute it, you have the right to make a formal appeal against it.

You will be able to do this by sending your appeal direct to the VOA: you can appeal either by correspondence or online, via the VOA website at www.voa.gov.uk However, appeals cannot be made until after the new scheme has come into effect on April 1, 2005.

Appeals can be made, however, at any time during the five year life of the new valuations.

Small firms

At the same time that the new rating assessments come into effect, April 1, 2005, small firms will also be affected by the introduction of a new small business rate relief scheme.

The details of the new scheme are still being worked out, but it looks likely that, under the scheme, rate relief will be available if the rate payer occupies only one property and the rateable value of that property is less than £15,000.

Properties with a rateable value below £5,000 will receive relief of 50%; this will reduce on a straight-line basis to 0% when the rateable value reaches £10,000. While this might sound generous at first sight, the reality is that a business operating from one property, which has a rateable value of £9,500, would receive a saving of only £3.82.

Moreover, a small firm that operates from two premises that have a combined rateable value of £9,500 will not only find itself ineligible for the relief, it will also have to pay a 1.6% surcharge. The surcharge is a percentage increase in the uniform business rate (UBR), which will apply to all businesses that are not eligible for rate relief.

On the bright side, though, there is good news for sole property occupiers whose assessments are between £10,000 and £15,000. Occupiers who fall within this band will be able to apply to their local authority each year for exemption from the surcharge.

Those who are successful in their applications will be made exempt from having to pay the surcharge.

If your business is situated in a "qualifying rural village" and has a rateable value of less than £12,000, your local authority, at its discretion, can decide to write off your bill completely if it agrees that your business is of benefit to the local community.

And also remember that, whatever new rateable value is allotted to your property as from April 2005, you may qualify for what is known as "transitional relief". This is available to any business where a new rateable value results in a significant increase on the previous year's liability.

Transitional relief will continue to be available in England after April 2005 but it has already been abolished in Wales and Scotland.

Any ratepayer who has any query about their new rateable value should discuss the matter with their accountant. Alternatively, they can contact the VOA helpline on 0845 602 1507.