Council tax - avoiding- illegal?

Fire_Fox

x__Indigo_x wrote: »

:oi have been a FT student , now is the first time i am 'going it alone' so to speak. So my question was really because the private LL told me he would put the tenancy in his name so that (because i was only there part time )It wouldnt effect the council tax liability for the house.

he is obviously committing an offence, and i will keep away from this type of LL and will find a trustworthy LL & now i no about the 25% discount i feel much better. thanks.

When you say 'his name' do you mean your partners or the landlords name? Where are you part-time - at work or in the house? If the landlord wants to keep the council tax in his own name I would suggest he does not have consent to let from the lender - you could be evicted at short notice if he gets repossessed. :eek:

Council's have got wise to people pretending single occupancy, they can check credit files (bank statements come to your flat?), voting registers (illegal not to be registered at your home address), taxation records (your work will give your address to the inland revenue), etc. Please do not commit this type of offense, you can end up with a criminal record!

If you cannot live on minimum wage then you either need to look at your income (online surveys, mystery shopping, focus groups, matched betting, second job, state benefits) and/ or outgoings!
Benefits calculator:
http://www.entitledto.co.uk/
Budget planner, post on DFW board for comments:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

jennikitten

I don't know why everyone's saying it's 25% discount, because it depends on the individual council in question. It can be 10%. It can be 33%.

Fire_Fox

jennikitten wrote: »

I don't know why everyone's saying it's 25% discount, because it depends on the individual council in question. It can be 10%. It can be 33%.

Can it? Which council please? According to the Local Government Finance Act 1992
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1992/ukpga_19920014_en_2#pt1-ch1-pb4-l1g11

"Discounts

(1) The amount of council tax payable in respect of any chargeable dwelling and any day shall be subject to a discount equal to the appropriate percentage of that amount if on that day—
(a) there is only one resident of the dwelling and he does not fall to be disregarded for the purposes of discount; or
(b) there are two or more residents of the dwelling and each of them except one falls to be disregarded for those purposes.
(2) Subject to section 12 below, the amount of council tax payable in respect of any chargeable dwelling and any day shall be subject to a discount equal to twice the appropriate percentage of that amount if on that day—
(a) there is no resident of the dwelling; or
(b) there are one or more residents of the dwelling and each of them falls to be disregarded for the purposes of discount.
(3) In this section and section 12 below “the appropriate percentage” means 25 per cent. or, if the Secretary of State by order so provides in relation to the financial year in which the day falls, such other percentage as is specified in the order.
(4) No order under subsection (3) above shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by resolution of the House of Commons.
(5) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for determining who shall be disregarded for the purposes of discount."

I believe the discount is usually 50% for a completely empty property (no furniture) and 10% for a second home, but not sure these are set in stone.

N79

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I believe the discount is usually 50% for a completely empty property (no furniture) and 10% for a second home, but not sure these are set in stone.

Firefox the discount for a second home can range between 10% and 50% at the discretion of the council, although in my experience I have yet to find a council offering more than 10%.

A completely empty property gains a 6 month exemption from council tax if it is awaiting letting or undergoing refurbishment.

jennikitten

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Can it? Which council please?

In my personal experiences both as a landlord and a student, there are variable discounts on offer when one of the residents is a student and there is only one other person living there - or maybe that any additional people are under 18, I don't know. Those are the general guidelines you're quoting - the ones I'm referring to (too lazy to find links and too new to post them anyway) are the ones which refer to 2 occupany households where one person is a student in higher education. For example, in my past experiences, I had different council tax % exemptions in Manchester compared to Nottingham.

Fire_Fox

"If only one person, aged 18 or over, lives in your property, we can give you a single person discount of 25% (one quarter). We may need to decide where someone's main home is, for example, if they work away from home or if they have more than one home."
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200028/council_tax/1780/discounts_and_exemptions/2

"When calculating how many people are resident certain people are not counted (see Council Tax Disregards below). If all but one of the adults are disregarded the discount will be 25%. If all the residents are disregarded the discount will be 50%. For property that is furnished but not occupied and for second homes a discount of 10% is applicable."
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1188

Maybe the students were getting 25% discount in term time and a 50% discount (if vacant) or 10% (second home) discount when they go home for the summer?

N79

jennikitten wrote: »

In my personal experiences both as a landlord and a student, there are variable discounts on offer when one of the residents is a student and there is only one other person living there - or maybe that any additional people are under 18, I don't know. Those are the general guidelines you're quoting - the ones I'm referring to (too lazy to find links and too new to post them anyway) are the ones which refer to 2 occupany households where one person is a student in higher education. For example, in my past experiences, I had different council tax % exemptions in Manchester compared to Nottingham.

If you were living in a household of two occupants with 1 a student and 1 with a coucil tax liability then the discount, as shown by Firefox, is 25% with all the liability falling on the non discounted occupant.

If you received a lower discount and it was less than 6 years ago get on to the council involved as you are due a refund. If you received a higher discout you owe council tax!!

zzzLazyDaisy

x__Indigo_x wrote: »

:oSo my question was really because the private LL told me he would put the tenancy in his name so that (because i was only there part time )It wouldnt effect the council tax liability for the house.

What do you mean by this?

Do you live at your parent's house, but visit your bf some nights during the week? In which case, your mail will go to their house, you will be on the electoral roll there, you will almost certainly be making some financial contribution for your board, all your stuff will be there, and neighbours will see you coming and going as normal...

Or do you live with your bf but visit your parents fairly often? In which case (well, you can work it out for yourself).

Just be aware that people are investigated for council tax fraud more often than you think. It only takes a 'public spirited' neighbour and you could be in real trouble. I speak from experience - as it happens I wasn't claiming anything I wasn't entitled to, and the CT fraud dept were quite apologetic, but still, it wasn't a nice experience.

RobertoMoir

x__Indigo_x wrote: »

well i contacted a private LL and told him r situation and he wentt ' oh we will just but the tenancy in his name to avoid CTX'

And it would totally not be the LL's problem in the slightest if anything went wrong. The LL just put down what he was told by the tenant and never ever saw you there once. At least that's what will happen should they ever be asked by anyone remotely official.

PasturesNew

asandwhen wrote: »

Surely you would be entitled to council tax and housing benefit if there is only 1 part time minimum wage coming in.

I would get some advice from the CAB you maybe suprised what you are entitled to working tax credit, council tax benefit and housing benefit.

How old are you? How old is your partner? How much is your rent? what is you take home pay per week? I could do a couple of calculations for you.

There are two incomes:
- student loans etc
- the OP's income

Probably no benefits due. Certainly not WTC, probably not the others

I'd imagine both of them were 20-22 based on the style of writing and how the OP referenced themselves and their situation.