Council tax bill never received nor paid

lincroft1710

Giving false information would mean he is committing Council Tax fraud.

pinkteapot

wigvet wrote: »

Is he better ‘coming clean’ and divulging full correct information now instead of saying for example he only moved in last year/can’t remember estate agent etc

I'm not an expert so take my comment with a pinch of salt, but given that the date of sale is freely available online from Land Registry data, I'd be VERY reluctant to try and lie!

Actually, even leaving that aside, surely as a general point you shouldn't be recommending to him that he try and get out of this by lying? Agree with the others that he needs to take responsibility.

I don't mind you helping one bit though. I'm 33, independent and still ask my mum for advice about stuff. I do then deal with it by myself, but she's handy for info and advice on all sorts of things. Take advantage of your parents' experience!

DT12

wigvet wrote: »

HappyMj & Edi81 – I understand your sentiments but I have no choice but to help him sort this one out – long story

Anyway again thanks for all the information again
I have now got the letter that the council sent to my son
Basically they state that they need to bring their Council Tax records up to date and request information such as

i) ‘Date he moved into property’ -
question – if he knocked a year of this would they in fact know/find out?
I see they request date he moved in not date of purchase

ii) Name of estate agent/solicitor who dealt with the conveyancing - question - is he obliged to provide this?

Is he better ‘coming clean’ and divulging full correct information now instead of saying for example he only moved in last year/can’t remember estate agent etc

Thanks again

Probably the worst thing you can do right now is lie and try and get out of it that way.

Call the council, explain the situation and fully cooperate. They will be more likely to help you in setting up a repayment schedule if you are honest and open. Either burying your head or lying would result in a worse situation

wigvet

thanks again - will follow advice as stated

pinkshoes

Be careful about lying...

He might find the exemption (if any) was only for 6 or 12 months so cound end up with 200% bill "before" he moved in.

If it was dilapidated before he bought it, then the previous owner could have already claimed the exemption. It depends on the council and how much they try to prevent unoccupied properties.

They may only be enquiring about when he moved in, but the next step will be contacting the owner or occupier before this period.

dancingfairy

There are 2 different types of discount/exemption being discussed. One is the empty and unfurnished discount which I believe you could have for a maximum of 6 months? and the other is the uninhabitable. To classify as uninhabitable it needs to be seriously uninhabitable and be undergoing serious renovations such as having no roof, major structural works, removal of supporting walls (that sort of thing).
The 6 months empty and unfurnished discount is/was pretty common and fairly easy to get. To get the structural works exemption I believe the council would want to have input into the process and to check it genuinely was uninhabitable with site visits etc. Whilst either is going to be fairly hard to argue for retrospectively, the structural/major works one is going to require a lot more proof I would say.
You need to bear in mind that it might be difficult to get the council to agree to retrospective discounts/exemptions and I'm not sure whether they have to allow this or whether it varies council by council. The other thing is that whatever discounts/ exemptions that may have been available in the past may not be available now so you may be trying to argue it should apply under the old rules. My understanding is that this is because the government has let council decide on how much discount to give for different classes of exemption/discount.
The main priority is to get this years council tax uptodate and pay it religiously. The council will probably be happy to accept a reasonable payment plan to clear the arrears.
To work out what it should be then you need to try and work out what bank it is in and look up what the council tax is for that band locally. Unless it has been delisted for some reason then you should the band on the VOA website.
df

dancingfairy

He should also ensure that this years money gets allocated against this years bill and any arrears payments are made seperately (perhaps with a different reference number). What he doesn't want to happen is for payment of arrears to be put against this years council tax or payment of this years council tax to go against the arrears as then it will cause all sorts of other problems (ie missed payment notices, extra charges, court etc etc).
Make sure you clarify with the council exactly how this will work in terms of reference numbers and allocation and get him to keep a close eye on it just in case the system messes up, he doesn't need any more problems.
df