MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Fannie contribute to Mae's council tax?

robpw2

Cazzdevil wrote: »

If the non-student lived alone then she'd have to pay for 100% of the council tax so sharing with a student is already saving her money hence I personally don't think the student should be expected to stump up anything towards it unless it was agreed before hand.

wrong she would get single person discount regardless if student was living with her

weebit

i was in a similar situation last year. i was in a house of 6 people, 2 students and 4 working. us 4 working people split the council tax 25% each while the students pay nothing.

the was i see it, when i was a student, i didn't pay a penny in council tax, so i dont see why any other students should either regardless of the situation.

however, having said that, when the 2 students moved out a few months ago and i advertised the room, i did stipulate that only professionals allowed, or students if they paid their equal share of the council tax (i.e. 1/6 of it). no students applied.

gisg_2

The student would have known that the house was required to pay council tax. I believe all bills should have a 50% contribution because the worker could turn around and say "you use the internet much more than i do to do your research so you can pay the majority of the internet and electricity bill as your using more than me." so it can bring up more issues so pay 50/50 or go live with another student, simple.

SiuLoong

Students are exempt for a reason, therefore she should pay nothing.

However, this should be arranged before they move in, if its a problem then they can work it out between them and whatever is agreed stands. The alternative, obviously is moving in with a non-student and splitting 50-50. Whilst splitting the difference is probably the fairest compromise, I do not think that the student should be obligated to pay anything.

I lived in a student house once with 5 other students and one employee (the landlord). He paid the full council tax (with reduction as he was the only employee). The rest of the bills were split equally.

(PS) I am no longer a student and pay full council tax...

toasted-lion

Let's assume the bill is £1000.

If Mae were sharing with a non-student she would pay 50% ie £500. By sharing with a student, Mae has to pay 75%, an extra £250. It would be reasonable to split this extra amount, so Fannie would pay £125. That way they are both paying £125 more than their ideal amount.

Fannie would be correct to say it was not her responsibility to pay this money, and it is true that as a student she probably doesn't have money to spare. However, having been asked by Mae to make a contribution, I think she should, if at all possible, pay something, even if it is less than £125.

I think it depends a lot on the financial circumstances of each person. If Mae were earning a fairly good salary, I would probably change my answer and say she would be stingy to ask Fannie to pay her council tax bill, but if Mae were really struggling, it would be harsh of Fannie to expect her to fork out an extra £250 with no help.

thanmuwa

The single person discounted rate for council tax is 75%, so basically Mae is paying what she would if Fannie wasn't there, but has someone to share phone, heating bills etc. with. That is, she is not getting the 75% because she is living with a student, she is getting the 75% because she is the only rate paying resident, as if she was living alone. So she really has little justification for asking Fannie to pay, but if they did want to live together, the 12.5% "split the difference" route might be the least likely to cause resentment.

stu369 wrote: »

It's a shame so many people are replying that they can't believe this wasn't sorted before they moved in! Surely the question is equally valid as how to agree the Council Tax before you take on a property?
If Fannie accepts that she is enjoying a benefit of sharing with her best friend and not other students, and Mae accepts that she is enjoying a benefit of sharing with her best friend and not other workers, then Martin's suggestion is obviously the best. That both pay 12.5% more than the (Fannie 0%, Mae 50%) that they would otherwise pay.

HaushinkaGreenDay

pezza88 wrote: »

I'm sure that I read that both are liable equally - it is the house that is charged, not the individuals. Students should therefore be careful about living with non-students and always work this out from the start.
As a student, I would say that splitting 50/25 seems the fairest although 62.5/12.5 is a valid compromise. 75/0 is unreasonable, and 37.5/37.5 seems a bit harsh in my opinion.

Since 1st April 2004, full-time students are no longer liable for Council Tax, even if they share a house with non-students (see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/residentialservices/documents/council_tax_and_student_liability.doc).

I think that as Mae is not paying any more than she would have if she was living alone (ie she is paying 75% of the tax because of single person discount) then she should not expect Fannie to contribute.

Mae is also currently liable for less than she would be if she was sharing with someone who was not exempt from Council Tax, as the Council can recover the full amount (100%) from either of the liable parties if needs be. So she is arguably at less risk if Fannie continues to submit her exemption certificate every year of her course.

As previously suggested, if Mae struggles to afford Council Tax, then she should apply for Council Tax Benefit.

All the other bills should be equally shared, but they should not have any bearing on who pays Council Tax as long as Fannie is a student.

Haushinka

Taffybiker

If Fannie were to move out Mae would still have to pay 75%. She is already taking a friendship risk by asking a student to contribute.
Since they are best friends though and Mae is in difficulty, Fannie would most likely offer financial assistance whenever possible but not necessarily at a fixed rate, bearing in mind that Fannie's resources are also limited.

oxondaemonfeurer

I think the interesting thing here is the student is exempt from council tax but if it is not paid then all the residents at the property are included on the magistrates liability order as I was last year when my hubby didn't open the council tax reminders to him due to his illness...

so, if she doesn't contribute to council tax and the other doesn't pay, she'll get caught anyway - so unfair!

tallgirld

Cazzdevil wrote: »

If the non-student lived alone then she'd have to pay for 100% of the council tax so sharing with a student is already saving her money hence I personally don't think the student should be expected to stump up anything towards it unless it was agreed before hand.

If she lived alone she would not have to pay 100% as it would be classed as a single household. She would still pay 75%. She may as well kick the student out!! But then she would have more rent to pay!! Ahhh sod it let the student stay and pay nothing as it makes no difference really ;-)