council tax fraud

miketheswede

hi

im 68 and have just found out that whilst our son was living with us (around 10 years ago) my husdband without my knowledge was not paying coucil tax he payed all the bills and i never questioned anything my son moved out 5 years ago and around the same time my husdband passed away what i would like to know is if the council where to find out about my husdband not paying with me beeing his partner and wife would i be held liable and have to pay

CIS

What do you mean by not paying? - Do you mean he literally paid nothing or that he didn't declare that your son was living with you in the property ?

ekkygirl

If you were both living there then you would not have been on a reduced single occupancy rate anyway your son being there would not have made a difference, If you were on benefits and your son was working and you didn't tell the council so that he could pay his part of the council tax then you may have had a problem.
5 years down the line I think the council would have bigger fish to fry than chasing a pensioner for money they may or may not owe.

Zazen999

How did you find out? He would have been taken to court years ago if he hadn't paid.

CIS

How did you find out? He would have been taken to court years ago if he hadn't paid.

Not always - there are 6 years from the date of the demand notice in order to apply for a liability order.. In theory the L/O will almost always be applied for within a yr or two maximum of the issuing of the demand notice but I've worked on plenty of cases where it doesn't always happen.

5 years down the line I think the council would have bigger fish to fry than chasing a pensioner for money they may or may not owe.

Again, in theory, if the council come across information regarding the account that alters the liability then they can adjust and re-bill however in practice its unusual to go back 5 yrs although I have worked on such cases and it depends on each local authority as to whether they would chase any outstanding balance.

miketheswede

yes i mean he didnt declare my son was living there my husdband was on incapacity benefit at the time and i was claiming benefits as well like i said my husdband took care of all the bills and as far as i was aware he was paying i only found out because my son told me i j ust wanted to know if they found out my husdband wasent paying could i be liable because all the bills where in my husdbands name

MrCarrot

Your son is no longer living there, and your husband has passed away. If the council haven't said anything 5-10 years ago, I doubt very much they're going to now. I would draw a line under it and stop worrying, life's too short.