Student council tax

zerog

Advised to repost this here from the CAB forum.

A student has interrupted his studies for 3 months.

According to google, full-time students remain exempt from council tax during interruptions unless these are longer than 12 months (unless they subsequently withdraw from the course, in which case they have to pay from the date they interrupted).

He has a letter from the university which states the new date of graduation as well as the dates of interruption. Does anyone know of the official source of information which I can present to the council in case they wrongly ask him to pay council tax during his interruption?

CKhalvashi

He won't have to pay for the three months, correctly stated as it's less than 12 month break.

I had a similar enquiry professionally about a year ago, put the facts to them, and this was the response I've had back.

CK

ETA: I'm a Cllr

jennifernil

zerog wrote: »

He has a letter from the university which states the new date of graduation as well as the dates of interruption.

Just a small point, in case it leads to confusion later......

The date a student has to start paying is from the end of the course, this date should be stated by the Uni. The date of graduation is irrelevant.

Christi

To be considered a full time student the studies undertaken would need to be for at least 21 hours a week AND at least 21 weeks per year. If these criteria are met and the student is still enrolled then council tax should remain exempt.

Jennifernil is correct in that graduation date has no part in the exemption for council tax. It is the course end date that counts. A new student certificate should be issued by the college or university that shows the new course end date. This should be sent your council along with a covering letter so that they can revise their records.

CIS

According to google, full-time students remain exempt from council tax during interruptions unless these are longer than 12 months (unless they subsequently withdraw from the course, in which case they have to pay from the date they interrupted).

There is nothing in the regulations pertaining to breaks in study.

There was however advice issued about 6 or 7 years ago which advised local authorities that intercalating students were to be regarded as remaining on the course for council tax purposes.

According to google, full-time students remain exempt from council tax during interruptions unless these are longer than 12 months (unless they subsequently withdraw from the course, in which case they have to pay from the date they interrupted).

In this case the end date of the course would be the date the university officially removed the person from the course.

zerog

Whoops, I wrote graduation date when I meant the end of course date. The 21 weeks / hours thing is irrelevant when the student is interrupting, I believe, as long as the course they are on requires at least that much attendance.

CIS wrote: »

There was however advice issued about 6 or 7 years ago which advised local authorities that intercalating students were to be regarded as remaining on the course for council tax purposes.

Thanks CIS and CKhalvashi. My question really is, if there is a problem with the council, how do I direct them to this advice?

CIS

The 21 weeks / hours thing is irrelevant when the student is interrupting, I believe, as long as the course they are on requires at least that much attendance.

That's correct as long as the course meets the requirement.

Thanks CIS and CKhalvashi. My question really is, if there is a problem with the council, how do I direct them to this advice?

Ive had look around for the guidance note but cant find the link anymore.

CKhalvashi

zerog wrote: »

Thanks CIS and CKhalvashi. My question really is, if there is a problem with the council, how do I direct them to this advice?

There is normally a solicitor and/or LL as Cllrs. I'm the second of these, a Licensing specialist, a Homelessness specialist and a Child Protection specialist, and I'm pretty typical in our area (several areas of specialism.) We have atleast 2 other LL's and at least 2 solicitors (one of which is a LL). They can easily contact the above for advice, or it could be a call from you to a random Cllr and then a further call to the one you need. Get them to go to the council offices with you.

We're paid an allowance to deal with things like this, and most of us often go against the council on various decisions to fight for our residents. It's your votes we need.

CK

enabledebra

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081205143343/http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/ctax/ctil/ctil5.pdf


This is the link?- it's been archived.

As others have said. You are a student for council tax purposes if your course is meets the criteria and you haven't yet completed it, abandoned it or been removed from it. You remain a 'student' during periods of temporary withdrawal.

CIS

This is the link?- it's been archived.

That's the one.