Please help, massive council tax arrears! SCOTLAND

HappyMJ

beanielou wrote: »

This is untrue.
It can be claimed back as far as needed.

Not quite...Action must be taken in court within 6 years. i.e the council must get a liability order. If no liability order is obtained 6 years after the bill has been issued then the council cannot chase the debt. Once a liability order is obtained then there is no time limit.

beanielou

You are splitting hairs.
It is easy enough for the council to do so and chase the arrears.
I am aware that there is no time limit.

G51shopaholic

I didnt think Council Tax was a debt. It is for council services. Glasgow are chasing people for Poll Tax debts going back 20yrs.

OP would be entitled to 25% discount as a single person, and if on a low income should have applied
for a reduction due to low income.

Why not pay the current year along with the debt? Simply ignoring the problem has resulted in a demand for £13,000.

Edinburgh has one of the highest Council tax rates in the UK so paying the same amount has NEVER put a dent the amount owed.

I would request a year on year breakdown of this total and apply for retrospective discounts. also if any of this debt is for the property jointly owned by the sister then she is equally liable.

i live in glasgow council tax band D and pay £165 per month.

As someone else suggested - sell the house you inherited and use money to clear all debts.

HappyMJ

G51shopaholic wrote: »

I didnt think Council Tax was a debt. It is for council services. Glasgow are chasing people for Poll Tax debts going back 20yrs.

You say it isn't a debt yet in the same paragraph call it a debt. Which is it? Council tax is a bill when it goes unpaid it's a debt. It becomes an enforceable debt if a liability order is obtained and can be collected whenever. Glasgow are wasting there money if they are actively chasing debts that are 20 years old. My council along with many others write the debt off after a period of time as uneconomical to collect.

Sparkle21

Hi Pinklipy,

I'm glad you managed to come to an agreement over repayment of the Council Tax.

Regarding the rental income, I have also had the same advice from a tax accountant of not having to complete a self-assessment if the income is less than £10k and no profit is being made. I may have been wrongly advised but perhaps a link to the HMRC or other official website would be more useful than links to other internet forums to "prove" this point? It's not as if you are depriving them of tax if there is no profit (but remember only the interest part of the mortgage is deductible not all the capital repayments when you are looking at the lack of profit made!)

goodmorningsunshine

This may be of interest to you;

I am not allowed to post links, but have been told about this by a very helpful MSE FORUM USER, that Edinburgh council take it upon themselves and only chase 5 years council tax arrears.

If you need to know more, then please look at my post, and in the replies, you will find the link, that I am not allowed to post.

dfitps

I think the OP's situation was that until recently she (wrongly, as it turned out) saw her council tax the way most people see mortgages - yes she owed money, but it was under control, a debt being paid off at a rate the lender was apparently quite happy with (via the Sheriff Officers). (No one would say it's outrageous to buy presents just because you have any other kind of apparently 'under control' debt like a mortgage.) Then, suddenly, wham bang out of the blue she gets a letter saying pay off the balance straight away (imagine that happening with a mortgage!). So now suddenly she's seeing it the way she should really have seen it all along - as a 'bad' debt, an out of control one, a problem situation. But it looks as if she's adjusting to that view and trying hard to sort it out straight away, including taking some presents back, so I don't think it's fair to imply she's somehow a wilful and reckless bad debtor in general.