Just been charged business rates for renting out my car parking space!?

woolly100

I had up to last July 2013 been renting out my car parking space to Zipcar, the car club company. Today, I received a letter from my council charging business rates for that time from stopping and looking forward to next year for rates on my car parking space. The car parking space is within a private road.

Can I be charged?? I want to point out to them that I haven't been renting my space out from that time. I don't want to admit that I'd been renting it out from 2007 as I'd be nervous that they'd try and charge me back rent since 2007.

I need to get hold of zipcar and wonder if they somehow had to reveal this to the local council or have I been dobbed in by a neighbour.

But what I need to know is can rates be charged for renting out a car parking space - is that a business?? We earned about £100 a month and they are charging me £406 for the period July 13 to March 2015. Has something changed where rates are concerned as why are they asking for this now and not before?

Help!

molerat

http://www.voa.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Manuals/CouncilTaxManual/council_tax_man_pn/ct-man-pn8.html

5. Vehicle parking in domestic driveway

Companies exist which advertise private driveways that are available for letting out to commuters for daily parking of vehicles. These would normally be near railway stations. This demand reflects the parking restrictions around stations, creating such demand.
Whilst there could be circumstances where allowing a commuter to park on a driveway in exchange for a fee might be non-domestic, it is considered that, in general, such situations will come within de minimis parameters, in terms of establishing a non-domestic portion of a composite hereditament. Such parking could be compared with other comparatively minor non-domestic or business uses of dwellings such as the use of a bedroom to work at home or undertaking some shirt ironing for payment, that will not result in a home being given a rating assessment as well as a council tax band. It will however depend on the facts of the case and the degree of the non-domestic use.
Where a parking space separate from the home, e.g. on piece of land or a defined space associated with a block of flats, is let for parking then this may result in the parking space being assessed for rates.

woolly100

But why do you think this is now happening? I mean the period that they are asking for was for the period after I had stopped mine and zipcar's business relationship?

Surely I can go back and say, I haven't rented out my car parking space between July 2013 and now and have no intention of renting it out from now 2014 to 2015?

geordie_joe

woolly100 wrote: »

But why do you think this is now happening? I mean the period that they are asking for was for the period after I had stopped mine and zipcar's business relationship?

What difference will knowing why it happened make?

You need to sort it out, or just pay up. You will probably find out why it happened when you contact them to sort it out.

woolly100 wrote: »

Surely I can go back and say, I haven't rented out my car parking space between July 2013 and now and have no intention of renting it out from now 2014 to 2015?

Well if you don't want to pay then you will have to tell them that you have not rented out the space in that time. They may tell you why they think you have, and they may as about the time previous to that.

If you want my thoughts on why it happened, it was the person you were renting the space to, or zipcar.

When you stopped renting the space either one of them could have thought you had gone to another person/company because you would get more rent, so they grassed you up in revenge.

Which brings up the question, why did you stop renting the space?

soolin

If you have correctly notified HMRC of your letting income it might well be them . If you haven't notified HMRC then I suggest you do so immediately as they have the power to charge interest and penalties for late tax payments on undeclared income.

woolly100

They (zipcar) stopped the arrangement as they had found a council space and didn't want to fork out for private renters. I omitted to mention that I was also a member of zipcar because I didn't have a car. I wanted the car to be in my space because at that time my two small children needed heavyweight car seats to travel in and I couldn't lump two kids and two car seats to a car even a 100m away very easily. So we used the money they paid us and added to it to use the car itself. Surely that must make a difference (not in the charges they are trying to take me for as I don't owe those as we weren't renting out then) but if they try and sting me for previous monies. Also, I wasn't working for most of that period and lived off husband's wages. I've only just started working now and again, this is a temporary arrangement probably till July.

woolly100

Ok I think all resolved. Took the bit between my teeth and called the council who explained that when zipcar discontinued paying business rates on the space (which I didn't know they did), they looked to the landlord to be billed AKA me. So when I explained the arrangement they passed me over to a central office to look at if they de-businessify this space. So after just getting a call from the same, they explained that someone else will call me and arrange a viewing just to ensure that it is a domestic dwelling. And then if they find it to be so which it obviously is, bill destroyed!! Yip yip!