Help-Council Tax on Composite Property

johnhow

Hi,

I came across this site recently and hopefully someone can help. My parents are self employed and have owned a small business property for over 20 yrs now. Having felt they've been paying too much council tax for a while now, I contacted the council and it turns out the property was listed as a composite property (both a business and residential property), even though this was not the case when we bought it. They (the council) apparently thought the property was split in two, with a separate flat above the shop (this is not the case).

Having contacted the council and contested this, eventually a council inspector has visited and this week an official from the valuation office also inspected the property. As a result, we've been unofficially told our council tax bill will now be cut from ~ £1800 to ~ £1100, as it is clearly only one property. This is obviously pleasing, but we have also been told we will not be able to claim any tax back retroactively (not even a day according to them), as the council does not offer such refunds and they said any legal action would be unsuccessful.

Does anyone know if this is the case and there is indeed a time limit ? and can anyone suggest our next course of action ? We have paid a lot of unnecessary tax, over a large number of years for a property we have never lived in (in fact for a property that does not in effect exist), and the council inspector said in passing when she visited even she did not know why the property had been classed as a composite. Yes I know we should have picked up on this earlier, but we don't believe the mistake was ours and surely we should be entitled to some sort of refund ?

The process is ongoing, should I be harassing the local council (who have been highly condescending throughout and adamant that we are not entitled to anything !!) or is this a matter the VOA can help with, who I am also in contact with ?

Any advice / help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm determined to not let the matter stand.

Many Thanks

windym_2

Read from here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1160141972,18232

by the looks of it sometimes you can claim back to when you moved; as far back as 1993.

Welcome to the site by the way :wave:

guppy

Hello,

I take it the property has all been completely non-domestic for over 20 years? In that case the VOA were at fault in 1993 when the property was assessed for council tax in 1993.

Council tax only applies to domestic accomodation, so it sounds like the property should never have been liable for any council tax.

This also means the VOA incorrectly assessed the business rates on the property when the non-domestic rates were reassessed in 1995, 2000 and 2005. Non-domestic rates usually depend on the size of the property. Chances are, the part the VOA had as domestic, should have been included in the business rates assessment.

Luckily, they can only reassess the business rates back to 2005, if at all.

In terms of getting your refund from the council...

The council are obliged to bill you or refund you based on the VOA's assessment of your property. Though in respect of the business rates, the VOA can't alter the 1995 or 2000 assessments.

The council tax itself has never been reassessed since 1993. The current valuation list is still in operation. If the VOA alter (or delete completely) the council tax assessment effective from 1993, the council have to refund you the money from that date.

I have heard some councils are trying to fob people off by saying there is some kind of "statute of limitations". As far as I know, this is complete rhubarb. Council tax and business rates are governed by their own laws which the councils should know full well. Unfortunately some seem to be ignoring them (in my opinion).

The council didn't technically "owe" you any money back in 1993. You were "technically" paying the right amount, i.e. the amount the VOA told the council you should pay.

Its only when the VOA retrospectively alter the valuation list, that the council begin to owe you money that the VOA now find you have paid incorrectly. Since the "debt" only comes in to existence in 2007 any "statute of limitations" argument is irrelevant.

I've also heard some councils say, "we've thrown away all the records of payments before 2000 so we can't pay you". Frankly, that's negligent when the current council tax valuation list can still be altered retrospectively back to 1993 (and frequently is).

I've not heard how far other people that have run in to this have got. All I can suggest is keep at it and don't let them bluff you. People you can write to might be the head of the council, the VOA customer services, your MP (the VOA are a government department), your councillor...etc.

Even if the council can legally refuse to pay you, the VOA are still at fault and may have to compensate you.

Anyway, if the above doesn't make any sense, let me know, or come over to the main council tax forum.

Good luck.

guppy

Also,

Check out these posts from robinlawrie on the successes board...might be relevant...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=5200175#post5200175

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=5205982#post5205982