Council Tax - I am in tears

saffronflowers

Asked for my council tax band to be looked at, as I pay band D, my neighbour on one side who is also a coucil tenant pays C, the other two houses either side of the two coucil houses are band D, are privately owned now and substantially improved.

I over look another road which is mainly coucil as well, and they are all C, I think they have looked at the wrong house.

I have spoken to the VOA and the lady dealing with it will call me tomorrow, but why does everything have to be a fight.

SFx

exil

Basically because the system is an accident waiting to happen. There will either have to be a general revaluation (cue BIG HEADLINES in the Daily Mail about snoopers checking how big your conservatory is) or the tax will have to be replaced with something else.

IanCun

We had the same thing with our property (renting at the moment), as every flat around ours is in the band lower. I can't see why ours would be more expensive at all, but as the previous tenant questioned it a couple of years ago we can't for something like another 5 years.

Lorian

"The council tax band of a property is not related to its current market value. This is because, by law, council tax valuations are based on the price a property would have fetched if it had been sold on 1 April 1991. For Wales the Valuation date is 1 April 2003. General price movements in the housing market since that date are not, therefore, a reason for changing a council tax banding. If you are thinking of challenging your band"

"When a property is improved (e.g. an extension is built), legislation prevents the VOA from increasing the existing band of that property until there is a “relevant transaction" (its sold for example)"

Could explain some of the anomoly

full-time-mum

I expect this will cause a riot but - bring back the community charge - far fairer if you ask me - every adult is then paying for the services which they use.

I could never understand what all the fuss was about over the poll tax, the size of my house doesn't necessarily reflect my income and certainly doesn't affect the amount of services I use. I need street lights and police officers, refuse collection and roads resurfaced in the same quantities whatever my house cost. We pay more council tax than our neighbours even though there are 4 adults living there and there are only 2 of us!

moonrakerz

full-time-mum wrote: »

I expect this will cause a riot but - bring back the community charge - far fairer if you ask me - every adult is then paying for the services which they use.

Hear Hear !

The old rates and the present Council tax were/are ridiculous; it's like saying the amount you will pay for your electricity will be based on the engine size of your car.

azjh77

Just a thought...

I live in a 3bed -ex council- terrace and I am in band B - this year we will be paying £111 per month

While processing a policy in work* I noticed that a chap in Westminster had a band F property and was paying around £800 per year (before his 25% discount)

Fair enough it's based on value of property years ago, but this guy is a band F, why is it so much cheaper than mine!

Rates/tax should be based on income/ability to pay, not on the value of your house. (I mean, who would have thought ten years ago we would ever have a house worth £150K, our flat only cost £27K)


* data protection! I know! But I haven't given you his name...

seven-day-weekend

I too agree that the 'poll tax' was fairer and what you pay in community charge should not be based in any way on the size/value of your house.

Bring back something like a 'poll tax' where every adult pays something - however it should also be based partly on ability to pay.

But based on house value? No Way!

shelovestobuystuff

full Time Mum-i Predict A Riot Too!!!
council Tax Is Unfair But Heaven Help Us If People Start Asking For A Return To The Poll Tax!!!
I Dont Know What Age You Are But If You Are In Your Mid 30's Or Older You Must Remember The Headlines And The Protests.it Was A Fixed Rate Per Person Over 16 And Everyone No Matter Their Circumstances Had To Pay It In Full.there Were No Rebates For People On Benefits.it Was Also Introduced At The Same Time As Benefits Were Scrapped For Under 18,s.this Meant That You Had A Load Of Low Income Unemployed Families Hit With Bills For Kids Who Were Old Enough To Pay Tax But Too Young To Get Benefits.(just To Jog Your Memory, And Yes I Was One Of The Campaigners As A Student,all Students Have To Protest About Something!)
The Current System Is Still Unfair.people Always Look At Things From Their Own Selfish Point Of View And I Am No Different.our Family Pay Over 10% Of Our Total Income In Council Tax(£158 A Month)and It Is Hard On Us.
I Think The Lib Dems Have The Right Idea In This Area.a Local Income Tax Would Be Fairer To The Vast Majority,especially Pensioners And Middle Income Families.

shelovestobuystuff

The banding system is a mess!!!
Apparantly the council tax bands were brought in in a hurry and the valuers did not have time to inspect each home.Instead they would drive down a street guessing the value.This means that houses in the same street can have different ratings.Our street was done totally randomly, looks like every 2nd house got a C rating and the others got a D.We live in a semi and the houses on either side are C but we are D.I filled out the form asking for a revaluation based on this new info and got a letter back saying that my complaint was invalid as it had been more than 6 months since I moved into my home.Dont know what to do next about this?Any advice?

seven-day-weekend

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

full Time Mum-i Predict A Riot Too!!!
council Tax Is Unfair But Heaven Help Us If People Start Asking For A Return To The Poll Tax!!!
I Dont Know What Age You Are But If You Are In Your Mid 30's Or Older You Must Remember The Headlines And The Protests.it Was A Fixed Rate Per Person Over 16 And Everyone No Matter Their Circumstances Had To Pay It In Full.there Were No Rebates For People On Benefits.it Was Also Introduced At The Same Time As Benefits Were Scrapped For Under 18,s.this Meant That You Had A Load Of Low Income Unemployed Families Hit With Bills For Kids Who Were Old Enough To Pay Tax But Too Young To Get Benefits.(just To Jog Your Memory, And Yes I Was One Of The Campaigners As A Student,all Students Have To Protest About Something!)
The Current System Is Still Unfair.people Always Look At Things From Their Own Selfish Point Of View And I Am No Different.our Family Pay Over 10% Of Our Total Income In Council Tax(£158 A Month)and It Is Hard On Us.
I Think The Lib Dems Have The Right Idea In This Area.a Local Income Tax Would Be Fairer To The Vast Majority,especially Pensioners And Middle Income Families.

I am old enough to not only remember the Poll Tax but the old Rates before that.

I didn't feel the way the poll tax was administered was particularly fair, but I felt that the principal was. Every adult should pay something, we all have the srvices.

However, there should be discretion used on people's ability to pay.

I don't particularly agree with Local Income Tax because there will be a lot of people working who can't afford to pay and some not working who can.

Poll tax, based on ability to pay, but everyone should pay something, even if only £1 a week.