A LEADING business pressure group says time is running out for firms in Hampshire wanting to query their new rateable property valuations - on which their business rates bill will be calculated.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) started sending out the latest valuations to 1.3m businesses in October, including those in Hampshire.

Business rates bills will start arriving at firms from February and will be due for payment from April 1.

Businesses are able to query the VOA immediately if they believe the VOA has miscalculated the size of the premises.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) said it had received complaints from firms claiming their valuation is too high.

FPB Chief Executive Nick Goulding said: "Businesses, particularly small and micro companies, must be careful their valuations are accurate otherwise, in the most extreme cases, they could be faced with an inaccurate bill that could bankrupt them.

"It is critical business owners register their query urgently as the VOA has limited resources to send surveyors round to reassess properties, and make a change to the valuation, before the April 1 deadline."

The government has given businesses six months to check their valuations before the new bills are sent out by local authorities in February and March, and become due from April.

After April, firms will be able to formally appeal against valuation on their bills, but appeals will enter a queue to be heard.

Rateable values have, on average, risen by 17.9 per cent. Retailers, particularly those with large premises, are expected to be hardest hit.

For the first time, small businesses rated at below £5,000 can apply to their local authority to receive 50 per cent tax relief, reducing to 0 per cent for premises valued at £10,000 and above.

A joint application for relief must be submitted if more than one business is run from the same premises.

Firms can estimate their rates bills from the VOA website at www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk