No fixed address = no council tax

renowen

Apologies if this is in wrong place and feel free to move, couldn't work out where this should go!

My friend is in a situation and doesn't know what to do so I thought I would ask here on her behalf

Basically she is a single mum since she split with her partner 7 years ago. However since then they have got back together although untill now they have continued to live apart. She wants him to move back in with them however as he has had no fixed address since living they split he hasn't been paying council tax! (He has been living on numerous friends floors and sofas over the years and even lived on the street for a time!)

She is worried that if he moves back in as she can't say where he has been living they will ask her to pay back the last 7 years worth of tax, he doesn't currently work so he wouldn't be able to pay this back himself.

I have no idea on a situation like this so wondered if anyone could help offer some advice please?

Many thanks

x

lincroft1710

Council Tax is linked to an address not a person.

The only people who are likely to have an increased CT bill are any friends he stayed with who were in receipt of single person discount. He would have no liability for CT in these cases, as he would not be in "hierarchy" of who pays CT. It is extremely doubtful if he could say exactly where he stayed and for how long for the past 7 years, so even this would probably not happen.

As he was homeless for a period, it is much simpler if asked for a previous address just to say "homeless".

Your friend will of course lose her single person discount. As he doesn't work he will probably be entitled to CT benefit.

renowen

Thank you

Are you certain of this (sorry I don't want to give her information which then leads her into financial difficulty)

She isn't concerned about losing her single parent benefits, having her family back together again is what's important to her.

xx

00ec25

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Council Tax is linked to an address not a person.
He would have no liability for CT in these cases,

renowen wrote: »

Are you certain of this

before retiring, Lincroft was in a Govt agency dealing with CT, you can take his answer as gospel truth

agrinnall

But is there not a possibility that council will review the friend's single person discount for the last 7 years and ask her to repay that if her partner moves in and can't prove where he has been since moving out?

lincroft1710

Your friend is not responsible for any CT payment incurred by her OH whilst he was not living at her home.

CT is a property based tax, payable by the occupier(s) or in some cases the owner(s) of a dwelling. In any case he was a "lodger" at his friends' houses and lodgers are not liable for CT.

lincroft1710

agrinnall wrote: »

But is there not a possibility that council will review the friend's single person discount for the last 7 years and ask her to repay that if her partner moves in and can't prove where he has been since moving out?

This is theoretically possible, but if this did happen OP's friend could appeal to a Valuation Tribunal and the onus would be on the council to prove the partner had lived there for the last 7 years. The VT do tend to give the benefit of the doubt and probably one of the partner's friends who put him up could confirm he stayed with them for a time.

There could well be a problem if the partner had left some of his possessions at the "marital" home when he left, which could indicate his intention to return, which would mean the SPD probably shouldn't have been given.

Beetlemama

Unless they have cause to believe he as been living with her and this is already in dispute, the past 7 years wont even be in question, we have plenty of couple who split and then get back together again. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I think it's very unlikely they will suddenly say he's been living there if she's had SPD for the past 7 years, they accepted he'd gone, they will accept he's back.

CIS

But is there not a possibility that council will review the friend's single person discount for the last 7 years and ask her to repay that if her partner moves in and can't prove where he has been since moving out?

In theory yes , in practice no.

As Lincroft has already pointed out a Valuation Tribunal wouldn't (unless there's evidence) find in the councils favour.

Councils also dislike creating debt going back over as its a pain to collect.

There could well be a problem if the partner had left some of his possessions at the "marital" home when he left, which could indicate his intention to return, which would mean the SPD probably shouldn't have been given.

Thats probably the only bit that could cause a problem although I personally wouldn't take it as enough proof after 7 years.

renowen

Thank you all I have passed this information on.

To clarify, when my friend split from her partner she moved into a different home where he has never lived so he has never paid council tax at her current address. Not sure if this changes things?

Thanks again

x

Beetlemama

It re-enforces her case that he is a new arrival that was never on the account in the first place, but remember they are not obliged to clarify what their relationship to each other is just for council tax, different if they are claiming benefits, then they must say they are a couple, but for council tax we ideally just need their name - but we will accept "My boyfriend moved in on Wednesday" and go ahead and remove SPD.

We can't start fraud investigations on every one who has a change of circumstances, we have to trust our customers to tell us the truth, and most of them do.