Am i liable to pay Council Tax

Tax_Question

When i said there was no power of attorney in place, i was talking between me and my Dad, i say there is 1 between my Uncle and my Dad, thats what he says anyway.

Pixie5740

Well that was obvious from your posts. :undecided

Tax_Question

Yes i suppose i could have been clearer.

Anyway no harm done, question answered.

Thanks

Mojisola

Tax_Question wrote: »

Anyway no harm done

That may not be the case for your uncle. As he is your father's attorney, he has to manage your father's finances with his best interest in mind. Paying the council tax which should have been paid by the tenants wasn't to your Dad's benefit!

Tax_Question

Very true, and something i will and am looking into, i am not sure of the full facts yet, i am sure you can appreciate i do not want to give full details on a public forum.

CIS

In the end it comes down to 'sole or main residence'. If the detention is to the point where it is unlikely he will ever return to the property then it can be argued that it is no longer his 'sole or main residence' (even better for the circumstances if it can be confirmed by the hospital he is detained in that he will not return) and therefore the council tax liability falls on to any occupier.

The 'sole or main residence' issue can be a battle if the council argue the cases as a long term absence does not automatically make it no longer your 'sole or main residence', even if others have been resident in the property. Unless the council have evidence that it's not still his 'sole or main residence' then the council tax is technically correctly right in his name.

G_M

You need to check

* that your uncle has got POA. It's not a question of 'between you and dad' or 'between him and dad' - POA means the attorney is resposnible for managing your dad's financial affairs

* it might be wise to check that uncle has been managing dad's affairs properly. eg
- what did the tenancy agreement say about council tax & why did uncle pay it?
- was uncle paying tax on the rental income on bealf of dad?

* you also need to consider dad's best interests when you move in. You say "With agreement of my Dad" but
- is dad mentally capable of making the decision? If he has been sectioned, he is probobly not legally capable
- in which case your uncle (as attourney) should protect dad's best interests by making you pay rent (to dad). Is this the case?
- and uncle should be complying with all the other landlord regulations. See:
* New landlords: advice, information & links

* out of interest, do you know what has been hapening to the rent for 14 years? If it was my dad, I'd want to know! I'm not suggesting your uncle has not been accounting for the money properly, but I'd certainly want to be sure my dad's money was going into his account, not uncle's (or elsewhere)

* to answer your question, yes, as tenant you will be liable for council tax. However, if the tenancy agreement says the rent includes CT, then you could deduct the CT amount from the rent (and pay it yourself.) Most tenancy agreements though do not say this.

Guest101

How does someone who is sectioned under the mental health act set up power of attorney - my understanding was that this could only be done via the courts? Which would means that your uncle would have the necessary court papers?


Having power of attorney does not mean he can pocket the rent either.

davidmcn

Guest101 wrote: »

How does someone who is sectioned under the mental health act set up power of attorney - my understanding was that this could only be done via the courts?

Being sectioned doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have sufficient capacity to grant a power of attorney.

Or it could have been granted prior to being sectioned.

Tax_Question

I have to be really careful what i say because this is a public forum, and there are loads of issues in the background which i am dealing with.

Power of Attorney did not exist 14 years ago, according to my Dads social worker/ Doctor, i raised the complaint with them that my Uncle may or may not have a PoA, there response was because my Uncle has been dealing with my Dads affairs for so long, and because when he started dealing with my Dads affairs PoA didnt exist they are not bothered.