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outofmoney

I can't give too many details here, but am curious about a situation of a friend.

A couple I know are OAPs. They had planned to retire but then their daughter came to live with them with her two children. The daughter gave up work and has never contributed a penny. She claims to not get CB due to not having a bank account (She got it before moving in).

This has resulted in the parents continuing to work long past retirement age despite bad health.

The kids are now adults. One has left but the other is still there. They are meant to go to college but don't (The couple don't know this and pay for travel and lunch plus phone). The mother has said that they have never claimed EMA due to again, no bank account.

Everyone, including the couple, know that they are being taken for a ride. But they choose to do nothing about the situation.

However, what I want to know is...

As there are 2 people living in the house over the age of 18 as well as the couple, who pays the Council Tax, and is there any discount. Because I assumed a couple over retirement age had a discount but not sure about when others live with them.

kingfisherblue

You don't get a council tax discount because you are a pensioner - you get it based on income.

For anybody living in the couple's house and not dependent on them - if the couple get a discount for council tax, any addditional adults may have to pay a non-dependent amount. This is based on the income of te non-dependent. If the non-dependents do not have an income, they will not have to pay council tax.

outofmoney

Ok Thanks. The couple themselves work around 40 hours each so I guess they don't get much of a discount if any.

uganda

kingfisherblue wrote: »

You don't get a council tax discount because you are a pensioner - you get it based on income.

Just to be clear, this is true of council tax benefit, not council tax discounts, which are not income-related. A pensioner is more likely to qualify for council tax benefit as their premiums will be higher and very probably their income lower.

kingfisherblue wrote: »

For anybody living in the couple's house and not dependent on them - if the couple get a discount for council tax, any addditional adults may have to pay a non-dependent amount. This is based on the income of te non-dependent.

Again, if you mean benefits rather than discounts, this is correct up to a point. The additional adults don't actually pay a non-dependent amount, what happens is the council tax benefit claimants may have non-dependent deductions made from their benefit - this won't happen if either of them receives the care component of disability living allowance.

kingfisherblue wrote: »

If the non-dependents do not have an income, they will not have to pay council tax.

The non-dependents do not have to pay council tax at all, they are not liable. The lowest deduction will be made if they have no income, presuming there are deductions at all, so if that's what you meant, that's not correct either.