Proving I don't owe council tax

borntosleep

I just received a "notice of enforcement" from Reventus addressed to me and two other people.

It regards unpaid council tax from period Apr 1, 2012 - Aug 31, 2012.

I did indeed live at this address but... until June 2011, when I moved to another country.

I have employment contract proving I was working in another country from July 2011, and throughout the entire 2012, and I can probably acquire a copy of flat contract that shows I was renting a flat in different country at the time.

I believe what happened is I did not de-register with the council (I never registered either, just provided my landlord with a copy of a letter proving I was a full time student at the time - I was a very young international student and was not fully aware of all my obligations and rights).

My questions are:

Should it be enough for me to go to the council with my documents proving I lived abroad at the time? This is the first time I hear about this issue, and I was never contacted in this regard. I came back to live in the UK recently, registered on the electoral roll and I guess this is how the issue came back to me.

Also, do they have a right to be sending letters to me, and to my address regarding the two other people that are on this letter? They did live with me in the house until 2011, but I have no association with them, I know they now live abroad.

The Reventus letter tells me that I have until Oct 30 to pay my debt or they will enter my property to seize belongings... I have no intention of paying as I do not owe this money, I was not due to pay this tax. But it is a pretty tight deadline. I will, therefore, appreciate any advice. Thank you!!

KRB2725

Living and working elsewhere does not necessarily mean you do not owe Council Tax. If I left my house empty and went abroad, there would still be Council Tax liability on the property. Unless someone else registered to pay, the bill would still come to me.

You did not inform the Council that you were not at the address at that time, so it is perfectly understandable that they thought you were.

Do you know who was living there at this time? If not then it may be worth contacting the landlord and seeing if he could help.

If you explain the situation to the Council they may allow you extra time to try and find the evidence you need.

I have no idea whether they would just 'let you off' by proving you were abroad, as I said earlier, this does not mean there is no liability for tax to be paid.

Someone was obviously paying it from June 11 until April 12, was this your housemates?

borntosleep

Thank you for the reply. As an international student I have not really realised all my rights and obligations, although I understand this may not be a mitigating circumstance.

I have terminated my agreement with the landlord as of 3 June 2011, new tenant came in (it was one of those huge shared houses in London with constantly rotating tenants, capacity of the house was up to 8 people...) and I left the country for the next 3.5 years, thinking that terminating my contract was all I needed to do - as I was not owning or renting property.

I will try to get in touch with someone who was living there after I have left but as I said there was a lot of tenants so I don't think I will be able to get them all to come and testify why they did / did not pay council tax...

I have no idea who was paying the council tax after I have left.

Any advice on whether I can at least get them to disassociate me/my theoretical debt from the two other people on the letter?

NYM

I didn't think Students were required to pay CT :think:

Were the other occupants also students?

NUS - Council Tax?

Hoploz

I'd say your best bet would be to find the paperwork regarding ending your tenancy agreement, either your copy or contact the landlord to see if he is willing to provide it. This should be enough evidence to sever you I would think.

The period in question is only a few months April 12-August 12. What sort of money are they asking for? If the worst came to the worst and you were liable for it, which I doubt, maybe it is not a life-changing sum?

davidmcn

NYM wrote: »

I didn't think Students were required to pay CT

Council will have them on their records as a resident, but a student (for the period that they've produced evidence of being enrolled as a student). Once the council stop receiving certificates from the university proving they're a student, the resident will be treated as a non-student resident, so liable for tax.

MobileSaver

emmatthews wrote: »

Living and working elsewhere does not necessarily mean you do not owe Council Tax.

I have no idea whether they would just 'let you off' by proving you were abroad, as I said earlier, this does not mean there is no liability for tax to be paid.

The OP is only liable to pay council tax while they were a tenant so all they need to do is prove to the council that the tenancy was ended on a specific date and then they won't be liable for anything after that date.

CIS

As far as the local authority & the courts are concerned - you are currently liable and owe the money until you show otherwise. Ultimately, if the local authority don't agree, you'd need to appeal to a valuation tribunal for a determination of liability.

What is relevant is what type of tenancy you were on, when it ended and did you actually serve the correct notice to end it ? It was also be relevant as to who was living in the property when you vacated.

Craig

CIS

MobileSaver wrote: »

The OP is only liable to pay council tax while they were a tenant so all they need to do is prove to the council that the tenancy was ended on a specific date and then they won't be liable for anything after that date.

It's unfortunately not that straight forward - a tenant who is non-resident can fall liable as the owner of a property under council tax legislation (currently a case where that happened is the subject of an appeal against a high court decision) http://lgfa92.co.uk/liability-of-tenants-after-vacation-high-court-decision/

Craig

MobileSaver

MobileSaver wrote: »

prove to the council that the tenancy was ended on a specific date

CIS wrote: »

It's unfortunately not that straight forward - a tenant who is non-resident can fall liable as the owner of a property under council tax legislation

http://lgfa92.co.uk/liability-of-tenants-after-vacation-high-court-decision/

"until the actual end of tenancy"

The case you link to confirms what I said that the liability ends when the tenancy ends!

G_M

borntosleep wrote: »

I have terminated my agreement with the landlord as of 3 June 2011, new tenant came in (it was one of those huge shared houses in London with constantly rotating tenants, capacity of the house was up to 8 people...)

Just a thought, but this sounds like a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO).

If so, the landlord is liable for the Council Tax I believe.