Covid-19 : £100m emergency rates package for in Northern Ireland businesses

The Finance Minister said: “The Chancellor made a statement today and has signalled there will be further announcements in the coming days in relation to support for businesses.

“This is a fast-moving situation but I want to provide businesses here with as much certainty as I can, as quickly as I can.

“I am therefore introducing emergency measures to reduce the cost of rates on businesses at this very difficult and uncertain time.

“All businesses will pay zero rates for the next three months. This rates holiday will save businesses £100m.

“I am also deferring the issuing of rates bill from April until June to help businesses with short-term cash flow.

“As part of the budget I will now bring proposals to Ministerial colleagues for a reduction in the regional business rate. This will benefit all businesses.

“These emergency measures will reduce costs and help with cash flow during this extremely challenging time. These are initial measures and I will be making further announcements shortly.

“Rate relief alone will not sustain businesses and the jobs they provide. Everyone has to work together to get us through this.”

In addition to the measures for businesses, Minister Murphy has also announced the deferral of rate bills for households.

He said: “I recognise that this is also a worrying time financially for households. That is why I have decided to defer the issuing of domestic rate bills from April until June.”

The Minister encouraged anyone facing financial hardship to contact Land & Property Service: “If any ratepayer has a difficulty paying rates in the current circumstances, I would encourage them to contact Land & Property Services to discuss alternative payment plans.”

This business rates holiday will not apply to public sector ratepayers or to utilities, further details will be published in due course.

Deferral of domestic rate bills will allow those who pay by direct debit to spread the amount over the normal ten month instalments. It will also still provide domestic ratepayers the opportunity to avail of early payment discounts if they wish.