council tax - what if the council still haven't billed me 10 years later?

anthony55

Hi, I would welcome some advice.

Here's my situation: about 10 years ago, I bought a second home (a newly built house on a street of old houses). I have never lived in the house. Initially I had some foreign students in as tenants for 3 years - then the house was unoccupied for 1-2 years - and since then, my daughter has lived there for the last 5 years. I don't know whether the students were paying council tax, but I understand that students are exempt anyway. However, I had assumed my daughter was paying, and she had assumed I had been paying on her behalf out of the rent money she gives me. When we found this out, I rang and wrote to the local council to find how much we owed them, and they told me they could not say because they had no record of the property on their books! So it appears that no tax has ever been requested or paid for this property, and still we have not received a bill from the council. I am obviously worried that this is going to be a big bill when it comes though.

So my questions are:
1) whose fault is it - mine, my solicitor's for not registering a new house, or the councils?
2) how far back can they demand repayment?
3) what are my obligations and rights / what should I do if they still haven't billed me? Do I just wait?

Thanks in advance, Ant.

lincroft1710

1) Probably the council's for not picking it up, but if the case had been that you were aware that no CT was being paid, then it would have been partly your responsibility. It is not the fault of your solicitor.

2) In your case the effective date should be date house was completed, so around 2001/2. The council can certainly backdate CT payments 6 years (statute of limitation) possibly back to 2001/2.

3) It won't go away, and it's your daughter to whom they will send the bill for past 5 years. Make sure they get the VOA to assess it asap.

No consolation, but you're not the first person this has happened to. I know of at least 4 other cases.

CIS

The council tax payments can be taken back to 2001/02 if the house banded them however councils are not liking the fact that it brings a lot of debt on to the books that wont be collected anytime soon so they MAY decide to write some of the older stuff off. The council tax isn't due until it has been billed for therefore the 6 years for gaining of a liability order (if required) would be from the date the bill is issued.

When we found this out, I rang and wrote to the local council to find how much we owed them, and they told me they could not say because they had no record of the property on their books!

Have you checked the Valuation List ?, you'd be surprised how many times the properties are on the council lists but the address has been input in a strange way (we have loads like this in the authority I work in , who thinks of starting an address with a full stop ?)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017252