council want g/f name and previous address for council tax

dixonh

hi, sorry if this is not the right place to post this but didn't know where else to put it, i had a phone call from dundee council today saying that someone reported me for not living alone, and that my g/f was living with me, which is true she is living with me, i was getting the single person discount for the year 2011, but i never filled in the single person discount form for this year as my g/f was moving in and we are paying the full amount of council tax, now the council are arranging a visit to my house "which is bought not a council house" to interview us and they want her name and previous address and when she moved in with me, now my questions are, 1 - can they demand her name and previous address if we are paying the full council tax, 2- can i get into trouble for not filling in question 2 on the single person discount form "which asks you to put any new peoples names and previous addresses that are living with you" 3 - is it any business of the council who is living with me as long as i pay the full amount of council tax, thank you for reading this, i know its a bit long but i tried to include all the info on the matter,and thank you very much if you can help me, P S, when i asked the council why they wanted her name and previous address, the answer shocked me, the council said and i quote " so they can track her " no im not living in china, its the uk

anselld

Yes, they can investigate if they think you have fraudulently claimed single discount. The current position is not relevant; they are interested in when she moved in vs when you stopped getting discount, ie if those periods overlapped.

CLAPTON

in which tax year did your gf move in?

ALIBOBSY

They will be looking to establish when she moved in as the other poster said to check you didn't get any single person discount when you shouldn't have, but they will also look at the previous address as if in their area they can pursue her for any unpaid council tax at that address, if in another councils area they pass the details on for the same reason (councils do the same for each other to stop people from moving over and over and not paying the council tax).

Ali x

Red_dog_Sam

Councils have powers to impose penalties where a person is required by law to provide information (for example, to enable councils to work out who should pay
council tax) and either fails to do so, or supplies information which the person knows is false. There is a potential fine of £50 but in reality that is very rarely applied.
Your obligation is to provide the Council with the information they need to correctly bill you and notify them of changes within 28 days. You have to tell them the date your discount should be cancelled from - it's not enough that you just don't get a discount this year. They are entitled to check the validity of your discount claim and if unsatisfied could cancel the whole discount period - though you would have a right of appeal.
Your Council is not responsible for tracing people for other Councils nor do Councils routinely send information between each other whenever people move - but they can and do make specific enquiries if they think it can support a claim or verify a fraud. By asking for the old address, that is what they are trying to do- find a way of validating the dates you give - but of course many people weren't responsible for Council Tax at their old addrsses anyway so it is not a check that can necessarily be performed anyhow. And if it is not in their area then it is not relevant to them. Your obligation is to give them the information they need to correctly charge you. If the property is not jointly owned there is no joint liability either so there is no obligation to provide the names of the other occupiers for Council Tax purposes - though there would be for Electoral roll so no real point witholding it. You don't have to accept a home visit or interview either (benefit fraud cases can reach interview under caution but not a discount claim when you have actually provided the information). Just provide in writing (or email) the information they need to bill you correctly and they have no case to pursue as you have met your obligation. If they decided to cancel your claim and backdate your bill you could demonstrate that you have provided the authority with the necessary information as part of any appeal. There's no point in antagonising them into cancelling it completely though. The usual outcome is simply that you give them the right date, they cancel your discount back to that date and you get a bill for it.

dixonh

hi, thank you for your replies, i forgot to say in my post that she used to stay at my place 2 or 3 times a week, "which is allowed i think " she just moved in full time this january, so i will be owe the council maybe 3 or 4 months full rate, do i by law have to tell the council her previous address and her name? i hate the thought of councils wanting to track people, once again thank you for reading and replying,
thank red dog sam, i was writing this at the same time as you posted

dixonh

thank red dog sam, i was writing this at the same time as you posted

Red_dog_Sam

You're right - staying two or three times a week doesn't make it her main residence so the discount is still valid until she moves in full time. The authority does not need to know where she came from to correctly bill you and you do not by law have to tell them. The catch is that if the council, despite having no actual evidence, suddenly says "we don't believe you should ever have had a discount and we have cancelled all your discount back for x years " , how do you prove them wrong without proving your GF lived elsewhere?

CLAPTON

One can't help wondering if you would object to the intrusive nature of the council if it were in your financial interest to do so?

Clearly councils should try to stop fraud of all sorts and this they are trying to do.

Do you really think they should just roll over when you say 'trust me'.
From what you say you have been less than fully open in this situation.

I'm sure you are aware that if your gf is not registered on the electoral roll you are committing an offence.

dixonh

hi, i would object, if the council said it wanted to track all my movements to see if they where due me any back money, as for being open, the only thing i have not been open about is not to tell the council that she moved in full time in january and i admit that, as for committing an offence for not being on the electoral roll i really did not know that,

dixonh

Red_dog_Sam wrote: »

You're right - staying two or three times a week doesn't make it her main residence so the discount is still valid until she moves in full time. The authority does not need to know where she came from to correctly bill you and you do not by law have to tell them. The catch is that if the council, despite having no actual evidence, suddenly says "we don't believe you should ever have had a discount and we have cancelled all your discount back for x years " , how do you prove them wrong without proving your GF lived elsewhere?

thanks red dog sam, is there a specific law or part of the a law that says i dont have to tell them her previous address and her name