Council Tax Dispute

alessandro

Hi there,

I apologise if this is in the wrong place however I am trying to find out some information for a friend of mine. Basically he was living with a friend for 9 months though not all the time(and he emailed the council to say as much).

He has recently moved out of that flat into a flat of hi own that he rents and obviously registered for council tax. The council are now chasing him for 9 months worth of council tax as it has since transpired his flatmate lied that he was a student and thus not eligible to pay council tax.

What is the best course of action for my friend and is it likely he will have to pay the near £800 it will cost?

If he does are the council likely to offer payment help?

Thanks

Guest101

The liabaility for council tax follows ownership, so if he was a lodger, then the tenant is liable.

CIS

alessandro wrote: »

Hi there,

I apologise if this is in the wrong place however I am trying to find out some information for a friend of mine. Basically he was living with a friend for 9 months though not all the time(and he emailed the council to say as much).

He has recently moved out of that flat into a flat of hi own that he rents and obviously registered for council tax. The council are now chasing him for 9 months worth of council tax as it has since transpired his flatmate lied that he was a student and thus not eligible to pay council tax.

What is the best course of action for my friend and is it likely he will have to pay the near £800 it will cost?

If he does are the council likely to offer payment help?

Thanks

Unless he was either a) a joint tenant, b) a partner c) joint owner or d) neither were tenants but they were the only residents then he cannot be jointly liable.

What were situation regarding residency ?

If he lied about being a student then the council can verify the details direct with the educational establishment if they are aware they may have granted a disregard in error.

Craig

D_M_E

He is not the one that lied, his flatmate at the time is the one that lied.

It looks to me as though the flatmate was the pwrson responsible for paying council tax and told the council wrongly that your friend wad a student.

The flatmate is the one responsible for the ct and should have been getting the single person discount of 25%.

Your friend needs to talk to the council and complain about their heavy handed approach and offer to make a payment of 75% of the 25% discount which would cover his stay with his old flatmate and this should be far less than the amount being demanded by the council.

If any such offer is accepted he should get acceptance in writing.

CIS

Your friend needs to talk to the council and complain about their heavy handed approach and offer to make a payment of 75% of the 25% discount which would cover his stay with his old flatmate and this should be far less than the amount being demanded by the council.

Heavy handed approach ? Making a determination he is liable and billing him is not heavy-handed, it's following the requirements of legislation using the information they have.

At the moment there's insufficient information to say what the situation is until the OP clarifies the situation.

Craig

kinger101

Who lied is not important. We need to know the status of the "false student" and OP's friend. If they were both tenants, they will both be liable.

Live in landlord (owner occupier) + tenant = LL pays
Two tenants = joint liability
Tenant + sublet as lodger = tenant
HMO = owner

Unless both were tenants, OP's friend needs to get back to the council explaining their occupancy does not have parity with the other guy's.

https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/liability_for_council_tax.shtml