Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rates (Reverse Vending Machine Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 1 April 2020.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages used to provide a reverse vending machine

2.-(1) No rates are payable in respect of lands and heritages for a day in a financial year beginning on or after 1 April 2020 if-

(a)the lands and heritages are used wholly or mainly for provision of a reverse vending machine, and

(b)an application for relief is made in accordance with regulation 3.

(2) In this regulation-

"lands and heritages" has the meaning prescribed by and under section 42 of the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act 1854(2),

"relevant container" means a sealed container designed for a single use supply of a drink to a consumer, the supply of which includes a refundable deposit, and

"reverse vending machine" means a mechanical device, that-

and where a device is provided partly to process used relevant containers and partly for other purposes, it is not a reverse vending machine unless its main intended purpose is the processing of used relevant containers.

Application for relief

3.-(1) An application for relief under these Regulations must-

(a)be signed by the ratepayer or a person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer (see paragraph (2)), and

(b)be made to the rating authority in whose valuation roll the entry for the lands and heritages appears by-

(i)addressing it to that authority, and

(ii)delivering it or sending it to that authority's office by post or electronic communication.

(2) A person is authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer, where the ratepayer is-

(a)a partnership, if the person is a partner of that partnership,

(b)a trust, if the person is a trustee of that trust,

(c)a body corporate, if the person is a director of that body.

(3) In this regulation-

"electronic communication" has the meaning given to it by section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(3)",

"sign" or "signed", in relation to an application made by electronic communication, means an electronic signature, as defined by section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000(4), and

"valuation roll" means the roll made up under section 1 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975(5).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide 100% relief from business rates in respect of lands and heritages that are used wholly or mainly for the provision of a reverse vending machine, which is defined in regulation 2. Relief is available from 1 April 2020.

An application must be made to obtain the relief. Regulation 3 sets out how the application is to be made.