Council Tax: Single Occupancy - Residence vs occupancy

CIS

You can certainly appeal to the council and then the Valuation Tribunal if necessary.

There are a few cases below which have decided on key points such as time away from home. However a Valuation Tribunal is not bound by previous decisions and can rule in new cases - there has been a trend in recent years to find in favour of the council tax payer un-like earlier cases which went against the council tax payer.

8.3.2
CITY OF BRADFORD METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL v NEIL ANDERTON
HC (RA 1991, page 45)
A merchant seaman’s sole or main residence was held to be his house in Bradford on the basis that: it was where his home was; it was his settled or usual abode which he left only when the exigencies of his occupation compelled him to do so for absences of long or short duration; it was where his wife and family lived; and, he had no
security of tenure on his ship. A merchant ship plying the high seas cannot in law constitute a person’s residence.

8.3.3
WARD v KINGSTON-UPON-HULL CITY COUNCIL HC (RA 1993, page 71)
Mr Ward spent only six to nine weeks in the United Kingdom and his wife was considering joining him in Saudi Arabia. The High Court held that Mr Ward had greater security of tenure at his dwelling in the United Kingdom, as opposed to that at
his employment-related accommodation in Saudi Arabia, and that on this basis Mr Ward and his wife had their sole or main residence in the United Kingdom.

8.3.4
CODNER v WILTSHIRE VALUATION AND COMMUNITY CHARGE TRIBUNAL HC
(RVR 1994, page 169)
The High Court confirmed the principle that time was not the only factor to be considered in determining sole or main residence.

Polonius56

As I understand the key words here are 'wife' and 'main residence' and there is an assumption on the part of the Council (on the part of the law?) that a wife's main residence is necessarily the same as that of her husband.

I am suggesting that this is not always the case; from time-to-time a spouse's main residence might very well be with her parents especially when her parents are in their 90s, require constant care and come from a country (Japan) where family traditions and obligations remain strong.

CIS

It may be so but the argument in your case is that wife has changed her main residence, not that she never had it with you. If she had never had it with you then its pretty much a closed case but as she had(has) her main residence with you then its not as easy to make the decision with the underlying case law.

Polonius56

Ah ... very helpful. Presumably it is established that a person can change their 'main residence' and indeed many people do this during their lives, possibly several times. They become adults and leave home, live alone or in shared accommodation for a few years, get married/have a live-in partner; sometimes they get divorced or widowed or whatever - their 'main residence' changes as their life circumstances change.

In my case, my wife's main residence (heck, not just her dwelling but her country of residence) has changed as her circumstances have changed.

Perhaps this is the way forward.




So the question I should ask is ... can a spouse change her/his main residence in the event of a family emegency?

CIS

Generally not as she still has the intention to return to her 'sole or main residence' in the UK.

DCodd

I may be missing the point here but to "benefit" from UK or foreign taxation one has to be resident for a minimum amount of time within that Country so does this not apply in reverse?

If she is not resident within the UK for say more than 6 months of the year then the 25% discount should apply.

Polonius56

Yes, it is her intention to return to the UK.

So as I understand it

1) My wife's 'main residence' will always be defined as the same house as me. Even if her country of residence changes and she is charged tax by another local authority, if she intends to return at some undetermined time in the future, she is regarded as being currently an occupant of my house.

And the only way this can ever be changed is by divorce or death?

2) I am being refused the Single Occupancy discount and am charged 100% of the tax because my wife is a live-in carer elsewhere.

DCodd

When a couple split but still stay married and have a joint mortgage etc the partner that stays in the house does get the discount so why not in this case?

lincroft1710

DCodd -if a couple split and one partner leaves, usually that partner has no intention of returning. Polonius56's wife intends to return, so the scenarios are not the same.

Errata

Although the wife may be staying with her parents abroad, she is free to return to her main residence in the UK when, and as many times, as she chooses.
If the property wasn't her main residence she wouldn't be able to do that.