Business Rates/ Council Tax

poochel

Hi there - hope I've got this on the right board (was a toss up between this and the house board)

I've a general query regarding business rates which I'm hoping some lovely person can answer. Although I know a person is under an obligation to pay the appropriate business rates etc, is a person legally obliged to inform the council when they move in to the premises?

I've tried to do some research on this and have got bogged down in the valuation office website, not really understanding how it all works. Don't get me wrong, there is no intention not to pay, I just wanted to know if there was a legal obligation to inform the council. Surely the onus should be on them to ensure that their lists are up to date?

CIS

Its your legal responsibility to inform them. They could have put the onus on to the council,but your council tax would be 10x what it is now to pay for it .

hodgester

for council tax you are obliged to inform the council. for business rates there is no legal responsibility to do under the legislation. but as CIS says, when they finally get hold of you, you'll get a massive bill with no instalments available.

Chilledjim

Not too sure about business rates but for council tax I believe you are under no obligation to inform the council you have moved into a property, it is their responsibility to ask. When they do so you have 21 days to provide them with accurate information or you may get a penalty applied to your account (£50 for first request and if it is ignored £200 for each subsequent request). In any case they will back date the tax to the day someone moved in or took ownership of the property, so there is no escaping it!