Lodger and council tax

marc3

First time on this particular forum-apologies if there is a specific lodgers forum.

We have a lodger which we are entirely open about.
Been with us 6 months now,and seems fairly settled

What i am not sure of is whether we need to advise the council ,and whether our council tax changes.

Should this lodger be paying council tax -either a share of our higher council tax-or council tax of his own.

On the electorall roll cards-should we put his name down as living with us?

Joyful

If you already had 2 people or more in your property and were paying 100% council tax there will be no extra to pay. If only 1 you would have been getting 25% discount so would need to advise there is now another adult ( over 18). If he is a student he will not pay (rules on % hours studying though).

If he is over 18 yes he should be added to the electoral role if he is staying long term to allow him to vote also.

theartfullodger

We have a lodger

Presumably means there are more than one of you so I guess you don't have "Single person discount" (25% off) on council tax. If so there is no more Council Tax to pay.

If however the Landlord is getting the single person discount, clearly that would no longer be valid & the council tax would need to go up. Who pays or if the extra is rolled into the room-rent - you decide...

Cheers!

Lodger

marc3

Cheers.

Are two of us-so no need for us to pay anymore.
Just seems a bit 'unfair' that a lodger (who has no other UK address ) is'nt paying anything

Dave101t

so divvy up the council tax into thirds.

suisidevw

You should have included it on yorur rent or as the bills come in split three ways and he pays 1/3rd....

Planner

It would be very unusal for a lodger to pay a seperate contribution towards council tax, such things should be in with the weekly/monthly room charge. If you have forgot to do this, I think you are going to have to take a hit on it for another six months and raise the room rate accordingly when your lodger has been there a year, otherwise you risk loosing them.

needaspirin

Surely the lodger is paying you rent? Didn't you ask for enough?

BTW - Have you informed the Inland Revenue of your additional income?:

A taxpayer must tell HM Revenue and Customs if s/he receives income from property which s/he lets out, including a room in her/his own home which is let out to a lodger. In England, Wales and N. Ireland, information about what financial records a landlord must keep is available on the the government website at https://www.direct.gov.uk.

A taxpayer who lets out a room under the Rent a room scheme may be able to claim tax relief under the scheme. If her/his income does not exceed the limit allowed under the scheme, s/he will be exempt from tax. The taxpayer must claim this relief since it is not given automatically.

All income from UK property other than income from the Rent a room scheme or from a holiday let is treated as if it was income from a business