Council tax: does the University notify the council?
seanspotatobusiness
Posts: 23 Forumite
I thought I read somewhere that local councils will obtain information on enrolled students to automatically exempt them from paying council tax but my local council is now asking me to pay tax (which I'll try to correct). Have I misread/misremembered, perhaps? Does each student still have to contact the council independently (that's how it was 10 years ago)?
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Check your council's website. But it may well not be notified by the Uni, this is what Aberdeen Council says:
We hope you have a happy, safe and enjoyable time while studying in Aberdeen.
Remember - exemption from Council Tax IS NOT applied automatically when you are a student. You must apply for Council Tax Discount/ Council Tax Exemption. Get in touch with us as soon as you can using the contacts section below.
That's what I had to do, using an exemption letter supplied by my university, when I was a student 5 years ago.0 -
Some councils get notifications automatically from universities for certain locations.I'm a Forum Ambassador on The Coronavirus Boards as well as the housing, mortgages and student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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Some Councils can check your student status using your student number, so no need for a confirmation letter. In any case you need to contact the council.0
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The council may be passed information from the university or the university may verify any requests that the council make in respect of an inquiry over a student however the onus to tell the council is on the individual themselves.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0
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When I looked on my council website the other day, it stated that two local universities notify them regarding council tax but three years ago I had to send proof of study so my mum could continue getting the single person discount.
While phoning the council tax office, ask if you need proof from each student as a predominantly student household still has to pay council tax if there's just one non-student living there.
I would probably notify them regardless of whether they're supposed to be notified or not anyway though. A Notice of Entitlement from SFE was enough for my council but I also sent my Acceptance letter too just be safe
Apologies for any typos, my phone can't handle the forums.0 -
I got a letter from my uni stating I was at uni and posted that to the council.New to this money saving lark. Any tips greatly received.
No Buying Unnecessary Toiletries 2018 - Not going well!!0 -
Just like everyone else is saying, it varies everywhere. The uni i went to was located on the border of two councils, and the students living on one side didnt have to notify the council as it was done automatically, but if you lived in the other council catchment, you did have to go down to their town hall, in person to provide your letter.0
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Where I am, in Brighton, you have to download and fill out an exemption form yourself.
Does make you wonder if it wouldn't be simpler to have the council and universities liaise with one another. You get a list of students and you simply cross reference that with every registered occupant in the city and strike the students form the council tax register.
You'd surely cut out loads of admin compared with processing every single individual case manually.
BUT the cynic in me thinks this is a deliberate ploy to catch out all the students who don't know any better or can't be bothered to go through the process, having more money than sense, and just pay it instead.
It's much like the convoluted income tax system in this country whereby everyone gets taxed at source but then millions have to go through a rigorous process of form filling and document producing in order to claim a portion of that tax back owing to the fact that they don't earn enough to be liable to as much tax as they've had taken.
If we just didn't tax these people in the first place there'd be a great deal less admin involved, but you'd lose the income from all those who don't bother to fill out all the forms or know any better.0 -
Where I am, in Brighton, you have to download and fill out an exemption form yourself.
Does make you wonder if it wouldn't be simpler to have the council and universities liaise with one another. You get a list of students and you simply cross reference that with every registered occupant in the city and strike the students form the council tax register.
You'd surely cut out loads of admin compared with processing every single individual case manually.
BUT the cynic in me thinks this is a deliberate ploy to catch out all the students who don't know any better or can't be bothered to go through the process, having more money than sense, and just pay it instead.
It's much like the convoluted income tax system in this country whereby everyone gets taxed at source but then millions have to go through a rigorous process of form filling and document producing in order to claim a portion of that tax back owing to the fact that they don't earn enough to be liable to as much tax as they've had taken.
If we just didn't tax these people in the first place there'd be a great deal less admin involved, but you'd lose the income from all those who don't bother to fill out all the forms or know any better.
The admin work is far too big - I know of a local authority with 2 uni's and another 2 close by with a several large colleges so there are tens of thousands of student to try and deal with for the council. If the council had to sit and verify everyone themselves it couldn't be done - on top of this is the issue that in many cases the council aren't informed who is living at which property so addresses cannot be linked up easily.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
The admin work is far too big - I know of a local authority with 2 uni's and another 2 close by with a several large colleges so there are tens of thousands of student to try and deal with for the council. If the council had to sit and verify everyone themselves it couldn't be done - on top of this is the issue that in many cases the council aren't informed who is living at which property so addresses cannot be linked up easily.
Fair enough. But aren't we advanced enough in this day and age that we could develop a better system? Universities will have electronic records of their entire intake and councils should have records of who is living within their jurisdiction. Certainly they've never seemed to have had any problem locating me to make Council Tax demands wherever I've lived.
All too often we are demanded to gather evidence and prove ourselves when the information would be far easier to access and verify electronically between council and institution.0
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