Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
rates
English answer:
property/real-estate taxes
English term
Türkiye
Masoud Kakouli Varnousfaderani 
The Best or Nothing
Native in: Persian (Farsi) 
Works in: English to Persian (Farsi), Persian (Farsi) to English, Persian (Farsi), and 1 more.
rates
| 5 +3 | property/real-estate taxes |
Yvonne Gallagher
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| Rates - Australia |
AllegroTrans
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Jun 19, 2021 14:39: writeaway changed "Field" from "Other" to "Bus/Financial"
Jun 26, 2021 23:50: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Sep 27, 2021 22:08: Andrea Capuselli changed "Term Context" from "This can apply to all of your bills e.g. home phone/ internet, mobiles, loans, credit cards, home loan, rates, and education fees. Does it mean tax? This is Australian English." to "Context removed by ProZ.com staff."
Non-PRO (1): Edith Kelly
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Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
property/real-estate taxes
In Australia, according to this, they are called "shire rates" or "council rates"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rates_(tax)
| agree |
AllegroTrans
: Generically yes, but known as (council) rates in Australia
2 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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| agree |
Tony M
3 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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| agree |
Edith Kelly
7 hrs
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Thanks:-)
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| neutral |
Daryo
: annual tax - there are also other forms of taxation linked to properties (stamp duties, inheritance tax ...)
15 hrs
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I fully agree with Tony's comment: "'rates' without any further qualifier invariably means property rates if it's water rates or something else it will say so."
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Reference comments
United Kingdom
Sensible solutions
Native in: English (Variant: Wessexois)
Works in: French to English, English, English to French
Rates - Australia
Australia’s tax system uses the payment of taxes to fund a variety of programs, services and infrastructure by all levels of government for the public benefit of all citizens.
Council rates are a property tax. Nationally, council rates raise 3.6 per cent of taxes collected by all levels of government.
Rates are paid by all property owners within a municipality to help pay for more than 100 services provided by councils, and maintain local roads, council facilities and public open spaces such as parks and gardens.
Councils use property values as the basis for calculating how much each property owner pays in rates.
In Victoria, council rates can comprise up to three components:
municipal charge (of not more than 20 per cent of a council’s total rates revenue)
waste management (garbage) charge
rate in the dollar.
Exemptions from rates apply to crown land, charitable land, land used for religious purposes, and land used exclusively for mining or forestry.
There is no direct connection between the amount of rates paid by a property and the level of council services received. Many services are provided for the benefit of all community members, but it is up to individuals as to the services they use and access.
| agree |
Daryo
: that's the same system as "Council Tax" in England
13 hrs
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Not the same: "Council Tax" replaced "rates" in 1993 and is not calculated in the same way
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Discussion
What I actually said, and sought to underline, was that we do not use 'rates' without any further qualifier when referring to utilities bllls, in which usage it invariably means property rates.
I suppose you need the exact meaning of "rates" as used in Australia so that can you translate this text.
There is a "sticky point", not a small one.
WHO is the intended audience?
I don't mean only which language they speak, but WHERE are they supposed to be living?
Looks like this text is some kind of advertising for credit cards, or some kind of payment system for individuals.
If this company plans to expand their business to a country where there is some other system of taxation, mentioning "rates" at all becomes pointless, or even worst confusing for potential clients.
OTOH if the target audience is supposed to be living in Australia, then yes it should be translated, as accurately as possible.
What I'm on about? For comparison, some US companies open a branch in UK and then ask customers living in UK for a "ZIP code" ...
Well, here it is:
The Council does not collect water charges for any leaseholders so leaseholders are not affected by these changes.
Will rent be reduced to reflect that water rates are no longer included?
Water rates are not included in the rent, they are levied as a separate tenant service charge. This charge will be reduced to zero for everyone in 2021/22
https://news.hackney.gov.uk/how-council-tenants-pay-their-wa...
This fact sheet tells you the rules that apply to water rates debt and how to deal with it. It also explains how to get help paying the water bill from a trust fund.
https://www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/water-ar...
The kind of "property tax" comparable to these Australian "rates" would be the in UK the "Council Tax" - paid by households - (this payment system is for private/personal use)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rates_(tax)
"Councils can choose how they calculate and distribute rates among categories of rateable properties in the council area. For each category or sub-category, rates can be calculated in one of three ways. They can be based:
-entirely on the land value of the property
-on a combination of the land value of the property and a fixed amount per property
-entirely on the land value, but subject to a minimum amount."
https://web.archive.org/web/20080214043546/http://www.dlg.ns...
If we were talking about 'utility' bills, we would never call those just 'rates' on their own — they might be called by their name, or grouped together as, say, 'gas, water, and electric rates'; but these utilities have already been mentioned, hence the subsequent mention of 'rates' on their own is a very strong indicator that it is specifically only referring to the 'property tax' bill — which is the only one that is ever referred to as 'the rates' without any other qualifier.
Although I have no specific knowledge of the Oz situation, it certainly looks as though in the other respects it macthes the GB usage.
Also
From Collins:
rate: British a local property tax
IS NOT any kind of usable "answer"
It is waaaays too vague and not very likely to make much sense in this specific sentence.
The way "rates" is actually used in UK, it could be a "tax on properties used for business" (only, NOT just any property) shortened form for "business rates" - the equivalent of what is the "Council Tax" for private dwellings.
This sentence being about household spending, in UK it would be most likely about "water rates" - the bill for supplied water.
"rates = paying your water bill" would make sense in this sentence, but there is no guarantee that in Australian informal English it doesn't mean something else.
rate: British a local property tax