Is Council tax a tax deductible expense

ttt888

Hi

I am renting out a property. I don't qualify for rent a room relief. I pay for all bills including council tax. I have always treated council tax as a non tax deductible expense. Is this correct? If not can I go back the previous years to claim this back?

Thanks in advance ppl.

00ec25

CT is an eligible expense

if you are non resident then you can deduct the full cost provided you do not retain any interest in the property - ie in reality it is a house share and you still have a room there which you can use - in that latter case you'd have to apportion the bill and your bit would not be an eligible cost

can't help wondering why, as a non resident LL, you do it that way? Normal to let the T pay directly then they bear the cost of any increases, just like for utility bills

slyracoon

Tenants should be responsible for all bills unless its some sort of house share or you are resident?

ttt888

Many thanks for your replies. Because its a multi occupational property I find it easier to include all bills and then up the rent a bit. Cheers.

evoke

Council tax is supposed to be paid by the people living in the property.

See here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037383

- lives in the property and owns it
- lives in the property and has a lease (this includes 'assured tenants' under the Housing Act 1988)
- lives in the property and is a 'statutory' or 'secure' tenant
- lives in the property and isn't a tenant but has permission to live there
- lives in the property (for example a squatter)
- has a lease of six months or more on the property, but doesn't live there
- owns the property but doesn't live there

Where do you come in on that list? And is there someone above you? If so, they must pay otherwise you are doing something dodgy.

00ec25

evoke wrote: »

Council tax is supposed to be paid by the people living in the property.

See here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037383



Where do you come in on that list? And is there someone above you? If so, they must pay otherwise you are doing something dodgy.

I was giving a simple answer, as the OP has now pointed out their actual status, the hierarchy of liability (which you have correctly posted) does NOT apply to HMO, sadly good as directgov website is, it is a simplified version for most guidance and although accurate it cannot be taken to be all encompassing.

The LL is ALWAYS responsible for CT in an HMO, it can be charged to the T as part of the rent, but it is NEVER the liability of the T to pay

ttt888

Absolutely correct!!!!!

It wouldn't make sense commercially if the list applied to an HMO if you think about it. How would the city council issue 5 seperate bills for 1 property. And even if it was viable, the council would have to come out and measure the floor space for each tenant's room and subdivide the floor space of the bathrooms, kitchens and other shared rooms/ hallways etc. If they did this, I think our council tax bills would hit the roof as they would need to employ rather than lay off staff to complete this pointless exercise.

CIS

How would the city council issue 5 seperate bills for 1 property. And even if it was viable, the council would have to come out and measure the floor space for each tenant's room and subdivide the floor space of the bathrooms, kitchens and other shared rooms/ hallways etc. If they did this, I think our council tax bills would hit the roof as they would need to employ rather than lay off staff to complete this pointless exercise.

For billing purposes it would be the same as any property with more than 1 tenant for council tax purposes - only 1 council tax demand would need to be issued for the property.

The reason HMO's are treated differently under the liability for owners regs is because a lot of HMO's are short occupancies and as such keeping track of the occupiers is difficult if you need to bill them.