Council Tax

outofdate_2

I thought that as a full time student I would be exempt from council tax. I am starting uni in Sept so I went to ask my local council office for the form and was told that whether/how much I pay depends on my income, and being a full time student didn't affect my bill. I am the only adult in my house and had budgeted not to pay my current £120 council tax per month. Please tell me she was wrong!

Chadsman

Any student following a recognised full time course of study such as a degree is not liable for council tax. Anyone who says otherwise doesnt know what they are on about.
:beer:

Tallymanjohn

As far as I'm aware, if you're a full-time student then you're exempt from council tax - see the DWP website here:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/council_tax_benefit.asp

But contact you local DWP as I suspect it's a case of the council charging you & you then getting council tax benefit to cover the cost.

Mikeyorks

Tallymanjohn wrote:

But contact you local DWP as I suspect it's a case of the council charging you & you then getting council tax benefit to cover the cost.

No - you contact the Council .. not the DWP. And the Council waive the charge for 'full time students', you don't have to pay / then reclaim.

It's 'Class N' under the standard list of CT exemptions, and your income doesn't come into the criteria. And probably best described on this site:-

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/YourHome/CouncilTax/studentctax.htm

(Bit puzzled however by 'I am the only adult ....'? Are you the homeowner? But ..appears not to make a difference if anyone else is under 18)

DrFluffy

outofdate wrote:

I thought that as a full time student I would be exempt from council tax. I am starting uni in Sept so I went to ask my local council office for the form and was told that whether/how much I pay depends on my income, and being a full time student didn't affect my bill. I am the only adult in my house and had budgeted not to pay my current £120 council tax per month. Please tell me she was wrong!

Report her. She is clearly incompetent...

kittiwoz

Councils generally, and particularly in area with high populations of students, seem to be so desperate to collect that they will tell you any old rubbish and hope you don't know better in the hope that you will pay up!

If you are currently living in the house you will be liable for council tax on it for the months until your course starts in September. You might be able to get council tax benefit to help with that if you are on a low income or in reciept of benefits. Unfotunately you will have to deal with the council through the benefits office to try and access that though.

As far as student exemption is concerned you need to ask your uni to supply you with a council tax form once you start and send a copy of that to the council. Make sure you photocopy the form since the postal service to councils seems to be peculiarly bad. I've never known so many letters to go missing. When they had that local and european election where they trialled all-postal voting I was dissenfranchised because the council had not recieved/ lost/ not processed our electoral roll form.

I agree you should complain about the missinformation but if my own experience is anything to go by you will be told that she didn't say that at all and you must have misunderstood.

Ryan.Maloney

Are you attending a real university? one that you applied to through UCAS?

Or is it some mickey-mouse/arty-fartsy course at yer local college

Altarf

Chadsman wrote:

Any student following a recognised full time course of study such as a degree is not liable for council tax. Anyone who says otherwise doesnt know what they are on about.

Incorrect.

Council tax is charged on a property and once it has been decided if that property is liable to tax then the liable person has to pay. Whether they are a student or not is irrelevant if the property is taxable.

For example, a student owns a property which they live in and they rent out rooms to other students (not uncommon these days). Fine, the property is exempt as it is only occupied by students.

However one of the students finishes their course, gets a job, but continues to live there. As the house is no longer occupied only by students, then it is not exempt. It is liable to 75% of of the council tax, as all but the working person are disregarded.

But, and this is the big but, in this example the person who is liable to pay is not the working person but the student who owns the house.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/tax/council_tax.htm

outofdate_2

Thanks for all the replies, and the website links. I wish my council was as efficient as Glasgow and I could just download a form.
I guess I asked for the wrong form and will wait until I start uni and ask them for the proof.
By the way, yes I am the homeowner (I am a mature student), and I hope it it is not too 'artsy fartsy' as my art teacher told me I was seriously crap at art. (am starting BEd @ Herts)

DrFluffy

You shouldn't need a form. I just send an offical letter from med school and a covering letter from me, explaining that I am a student etc. each year and that always surfices...

missk_ensington

I'm a full time student and I'm fully exempt. You get a certificate from somewhere at the uni and you just send them a photocopy of it (admittedly it takes them a good 2-3 months to actually process it!)