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Renting: council tax, are we in trouble?
Alicia00
Posts: 2 Newbie
Sorry if it's a wrong place, hard to navigate on phone.
I moved in with my boyfriend 6 months ago and I have just found out he had council tax discount for single occupancy. He completely mussed that 'detail'. It was unintentional!! Now we have to tell the council, but I'm afraid of fines or legal actions. Anyone knows a good way to deal with this situation?
I moved in with my boyfriend 6 months ago and I have just found out he had council tax discount for single occupancy. He completely mussed that 'detail'. It was unintentional!! Now we have to tell the council, but I'm afraid of fines or legal actions. Anyone knows a good way to deal with this situation?
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Comments
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Sorry if it's a wrong place, hard to navigate on phone.
I moved in with my boyfriend 6 months ago and I have just found out he had council tax discount for single occupancy. He completely mussed that 'detail'. It was unintentional!! Now we have to tell the council, but I'm afraid of fines or legal actions. Anyone knows a good way to deal with this situation?
I would tell them on Monday before they find out themselves.
If you are honest with them then I can't see them fining you, but even if they do it will be a lot worse if they contact you first.0 -
Just tell them and pay back the past discount.
They have bigger problems than taking action against people who actually want to pay up.0 -
I would contact them soon as possible explain the date you moved in, I would hope they would just bill you the difference.
There is a poster here from the council sure they will be along soon.0 -
You tell the council and they'll just bill you for what you owe for the past 6 months. That's it.0
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Tell the council, they will send him a new bill. Whether you tell them you moved in yesterday or six months ago may determine whether they back-date the bill, and is down to your conscience. I hope you tell them the correct date.0
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Tell the council, they will send him a new bill. Whether you tell them you moved in yesterday or six months ago may determine whether they back-date the bill, and is down to your conscience. I hope you tell them the correct date.
You should be honest as they will probably ask you your previous address and if they are suspicious they can check when you stopped paying council tax there.0 -
And they are likely to check the electoral register too.0
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Best way is to be just be honest - very few council's will take criminal action in these sorts of cases as it's not worth their while and the amount is relatively small. Six months isn't an unusual period - I've seen cases have to be backdated for years.
Call them on Monday and let them know when you actually moved in and that your his partner. They'll remove the 25% discount, put the account in joint names and issue a revised bill.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0 -
Thanks everyone for advice! Wonder if I've missed any other suff related to the move.
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They'll just be pleased you mentioned it now ... and back-pay the difference. You won't be "in trouble".
Other things to check:
- did you get round to going on the electoral roll?
- what about his contents insurance, they'd need to know you're there, with your stuff.0
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