Drafted soon

aleatory

Is there any extra relief on mortgage/rates for reserve personnel who get drafted for operations?

Andy_L

No

(minimum length filler)

tocsin

(Wow, helpful reply Andy L...)

Nothing on mortgage - normal expenditure.

Council tax - maybe, depends on who is left in the house - have a look at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037422

As a mobilised reservist, you will get paid either the rate for your rank (which will be more than you get currently for training, as the X factor will be added) OR your civvie rate of pay if this is more (up to some ridiculously high level, to cope with medical reservists).

If you have a company pension that you pay in to, make sure that payments are collected for it by MoD - much harder to sort out afterwards.

All this should be covered in briefings pre or at mobilisation.

Hope that helps!

aleatory

thanks for that link - apparently I should have been saving money already! You'd think they would have pointed it out to me before...

Andy_L

tocsin wrote: »

(Wow, helpful reply Andy L...)

Hey, it totally answers all the points in the OP. I could off stretched it out, but lets remember the guiding principals of service writing

Esoog

drafted!? Are you serious...Try mobilised!

aleatory

whatever like...

aleatory

also as I'll not be anywhere near my house during deployment would I be correct in thinking I can declare my home unoccupied (no one else lives here)?

CIS

also as I'll not be anywhere near my house during deployment would I be correct in thinking I can declare my home unoccupied (no one else lives here)?

It remains your main residence for council tax purposes and you would be classed as still resident.

aleatory

got you cheers.

Esoog

Should have been explained to you really;

06/08: Council Tax Relief extended for Service personnel on operations
Serial No:

Sourced:

DIB 2008/06

SP Pol Pay & Charges




Date:

Released By:

28/01/2008

DGMC-Defence PR Bureau

AUDIENCE: All Service personnel

KEY POINTS:

• Council Tax Relief to Service personnel is now extended to include new operational locations, with effect from 1 April 2008, and backdated to 1 February 2008. These are:

- Bahrain
- Bosnia
- British Forces South Atlantic Islands
- Diego Garcia
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Qatar
- RN Ships in receipt of Deployment Welfare Package (DWP) (Overseas)
- UN Operations

• Council Tax Relief for Service personnel will be paid as a tax free lump sum on completion of the deployment, based on the number of days in theatre.

• Full details of eligibility and methods of claiming, which should be made on return from deployment, will be published in JSP 754 prior to 1 April 2008.

DETAIL:

1. In September 2007 the Secretary of State for Defence announced that Armed Forces deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq would receive a tax-free Council Tax Relief payment (see DIB 2007/25 dated 26 September 2007 for details). He also announced the intention to extend this payment to all those deployed on operations in 2008. This extension of eligibility, announced today, will benefit the wider Service population deployed overseas on operations, approximately an additional 4,500 personnel.

2. Payment of Council Tax Relief will be made at the end of the operational tour, based on the number of days in theatre. This payment applies to all Regular Service personnel, mobilised Reserves and Full-Time Reserve Service (Full or Limited Commitment) personnel serving in operational locations specified by MOD who actually pay council tax, rates in Northern Ireland or Contributions in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT) for Service Family Accommodation (SFA).

Frequently Asked Questions

Who pays council tax?
All Service personnel who own or rent a private property remain liable to pay council tax on their own property to the local authority.

Who pays CILOCT?
All Service accommodation in England, Scotland and Wales is formally exempt from the council tax regime and MOD instead pays CILOCT to local authorities, broadly equivalent to the amount of tax that would otherwise be due. The average contribution, determined by the type of property occupied, is then recovered from Service occupants with their accommodation charge.

Will this payment affect any discount Service personnel have already agreed with their local authority?
No. It is MOD's intention, as part of the administrative arrangements for the new scheme, to exclude personnel from payment if they have already negotiated a discount from local authorities for being absent on operational deployment.

What has been previously announced on Council Tax?
On 25 September 2007, SofS announced that Council Tax Relief, some £140 based on a six-month tour, will be paid to those in receipt of the Operational Allowance with effect from 1 April 2008, backdated to 1 October 2007. It was also announced that the scheme would be extended to other Service personnel deployed on operations overseas in due course.

What is being announced today?
The Council Tax Relief payment is being extended to all other Service personnel deployed overseas on operations from 1 April 2008, backdated to 1 February 2008.

Who will it be paid to?
The additional payment will be paid only to those who actually pay council tax or Contributions in Lieu Of Council Tax (CILOCT) for Service Family Accommodation.

What about those in Single Living Accommodation (SLA) paying CILOCT?
For those in SLA, CILOCT charges cease when deployed on operations.

How many personnel will benefit from this payment?
Based on current deployment levels in Afghanistan, Iraq and the wider population deployed overseas on operations, we estimate some 13,000 will be council tax/CILOCT payers.

Why £140?
This equates to a 25% discount on an average council tax bill in England for a six-month period.

Wouldn't a statutory (i.e. permanent) scheme be better?
We will continue to liaise with the Department for Communities and Local Government and devolved administrations about the feasibility in the longer term of a statutory discount scheme to ensure that assistance takes account of actual council tax bills.