Businesses and home owners in Northern Ireland will receive their rate bill for 2016-2017 this month.

Land & Property Services (LPS) is responsible for issuing rate bills and collecting monies on behalf of the NI Executive and local councils. The bill outlines the amount due for the billing period 2016-17 and includes any unpaid arrears from previous years, along with any rate relief where applicable.

Highlighting the importance of paying rates, an LPS spokesperson said: "As of 31 March 2015, there were 856,245 rateable properties across the 11 council areas. The amount of rates collected for the financial year 2014-15 was approximately £1.17billion. This money is vital for our local economy, as it is invested in public services such as healthcare, education and roads as well as helping to fund numerous council services, including recreational facilities, building control, bin collection, tourism and local events.

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"The easiest and most convenient way to pay is by Direct Debit. Currently 55% of ratepayers in Northern Ireland pay their bills this way, spreading the cost of the bill over a 10 month period and helping to ease any financial pressure. A choice of three collection dates is available for Direct Debit – 7th, 15th or 28th of each month.

"For domestic ratepayers, there is a 4% discount if they pay their bill in full on or before the discount date of 6 May 2016. In April last year, online and telephone payments increased by 87% as ratepayers took advantage of these faster and easier to use services to receive their discount."

(CD)