shouldn't be paying council tax

bouyou

Hello guys

Can you please advise me to what to do??

My previous council is asking me to pay 450 pounds for council tax from 2009.

The problem is that:

1) I no longer live there. I've already left the UK.

2) when I was staying there, i was a full time international student, so i should be exempted from paying the council tax.

3) when I rang the council and told that i was a student, their answer was:

" we know that you were a student, but another person was living in that house that wasn't a student"

so I asked them: why should I pay in his place, i was only a tenant. they answer " You need to prove that you were only a tenant".


4) I stayed in that house for 2 months and a half, but the bill covers five months period. and I have bank statements to prove I wasn't there the whole period.


regards

CIS

Was the other person a joint tenant with you ?. If not what was their status in the property ?.

Did they remain in the property after you left ?

bouyou

yes he was a tenant.

the other thing is that: I had no tenancy agreement with the landlord.

McKneff

Was your name on the council tax bill then.

Was it a house you lived in with the landlord effectively making you a lodger.

Or was it a house of multiple occupation HMO

bouyou

yes my name ws in the council tax.

the house was an HMO.

HappyMJ

Do you have any plans on returning to the UK? It will be probably end up being written off as uncollectable. They cannot do anything to you if you do not live in the UK.

bouyou

but, if in the future i decided to co back the UK. Would it stop me from getting a visa, or entering the UK

antrobus

bouyou wrote: »

yes my name ws in the council tax.

the house was an HMO.

If it was an HMO then the owner would be liable for the CT.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/tax_e/tax_council_tax_ew/council_tax.htm

Students in England, Wales and Scotland cannot be held jointly liable to pay a Council Tax bill, for example where a student shares the house with other non-students as joint tenants, the local authority cannot make the student pay the bill. However a student may still be liable for a Council Tax bill if they are the only liable person or all the jointly liable people are students.

http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/council_tax.php

You are not the only liable person.

The statement from the council that " You need to prove that you were only a tenant" implies that they're treating you as the owner. Point out to them that you were not the owner, and that this fact can (most likely) be verified by consulting the Land Registry.

HappyMJ

bouyou wrote: »

but, if in the future i decided to co back the UK. Would it stop me from getting a visa, or entering the UK

Not at all. It's just an unpaid debt.

McKneff

I don't think your name should have been on the bill anyway.

In an HMO, the owner of the property is the one who is liable, whether you are a student or not.