£5000 bill for 5 – 6 years of outstanding council tax bill!, Landlords fault !!!

justwondering25

CIS wrote: »

Legally the banding has been set and the charge is due so the council can pursue the charge in the meantime, until such time as it is legally altered it remains the 'correct' details. You can ask them to hold but they can say no.

If, for example, they pursued the council tax charge as it wasn't paid then when it came to the obtaining of a liability order the court are not allowed to consider anything to do with valuation (it's specifically written as such in legislation) and so would have to grant the liability order.


That's the best option - without knowing their reasoning it's hard to tell.

If they went back further then the landlord would get the bill. The issue is really that there should be a consistent approach by the VOA, if a date is to be used it should be used without (from their point of view) worrying abut who is getting the bill.

Craig

Small update , I have spoken with council tax people this morning , they are amending the bills to include single person discount until 2015 .

The VOA have sent a letter to the council to explain the date will be altered to the date of tenancy agreement , I know this is incorrect etc....I have checked the VOA website again this morning , the date is still showing 29/01/17 , am I within my rights to refuse to pay the backdated bill if the date does not officially change on the VOA website to reflect the start of the tenancy date. ?

CIS

justwondering25 wrote: »

The VOA have sent a letter to the council to explain the date will be altered to the date of tenancy agreement , I know this is incorrect etc....I have checked the VOA website again this morning , the date is still showing 29/01/17 , am I within my rights to refuse to pay the backdated bill if the date does not officially change on the VOA website to reflect the start of the tenancy date. ?

I'd imagine that the VOA displayed data (although compiled from the list) is not regarded as the authoritative copy of the list and so couldn't be relied on in the case of an argument. The website is usually a little behind the actual banding being set by the VOA.

Small update , I have spoken with council tax people this morning , they are amending the bills to include single person discount until 2015 .

Is there any particular reason why they chose 2015 ?

Craig

justwondering25

CIS wrote: »

I'd imagine that the VOA displayed data (although compiled from the list) is not regarded as the authoritative copy of the list and so couldn't be relied on in the case of an argument. The website is usually a little behind the actual banding being set by the VOA.


Is there any particular reason why they chose 2015 ?

Craig

Hi Craig , Thank you for your reply , up until third qtr of 2015 I was single and living on my own , then I married and my wife then moved in.

With regards to the VOA , I presume I will receive a letter stating the effective date from 2011 , which in effect will be the official letter that I should consider as been the effective date as opposed to the website .

It is strange that the VOA told my landlord the effective date was meaningless and that he gets asked questions all the time with regards to the effective date.

Is it just plain laziness on the VOA officers side to not enter a more appropriate date as a back dated listing on the VOA website would involve a lot more paper work for him to complete ?

It would seem to me , the effective date used in other peoples cases may often be incorrect and people have paid back dated bills unfairly and the VOA are clearly not keeping the records correctly as per their primary function.

What a stress !!!!

lincroft1710

Altering an effective date involves minimal paperwork, mainly key depressions most of which will be performed by staff in junior grades.

The effective date is usually decided by the billing authority (council) not the VOA. A "Completion Notice" is served on the owner of the building giving the date on which the council believe the building will be completed, which can be appealed.

The VOA's primary function is to place CT bands on dwellings, they do not keep records of when tenancies start or buildings are converted or completed.

Your case is almost unique. For the vast majority of "new" dwellings, there is no argument over the effective date since owners and tenants are billed from their date of de facto or de iure occupation.

Where an effective date is unknown it is usual to look for evidence of a date on which the building was known to have been completed. Your tenancy start date is proof of the building being completed by that date

justwondering25

Hi Craig and Lincroft1710 , Thank you once again for your help and the wealth of information you have provided , at the very least at the end of this situation , with the power of Google , this post should offer up excellent advice and information for those that find themselves in a similar situation.

I must admit I thought it was the VOA that set the date , but I now know that it is the council that set the effective date , it is odd that the letter I received from the council , the council blamed the VOA for this mistake and was a error on there behalf (Should I post a copy of letter ?)

Do I have a right to see the effective date the council have issued ?

Should I ask my landlord if he has been given a "Completion Notice" to see the date that is shown ? would or should this already of arrived , I presume as detailed above he should of had this from the local council tax office ?

Thank you once again

CIS

justwondering25 wrote: »

Hi Craig , Thank you once again for your help and the wealth of information you have provided , at the very least at the end of this situation , with the power of Google , this post should offer up excellent advice and information for those that find themselves in a similar situation.

I must admit I thought it was the VOA that set the date , but I now know that it is the council that set the effective date , it is odd that the letter I received from the council , the council blamed the VOA for this mistake and was a error on there behalf (Should I post a copy of letter ?)

Do I have a right to see the effective date the council have issued ?

Should I ask my landlord if he has been given a "Completion Notice" to see the date that is shown ? would or should this already of arrived , I presume as detailed above he should of had this from the local council tax office ?

Thank you once again

I'd have my doubts that a completion notice was ever issued - if it had been then the problem would likely never have occurred as there'd have been an agreed date for the property being complete and this should then have been passed to the VOA by the council.

It's where this hasn't happened where the VOA will try and then work a date out to use which is where the likely dispute over who's to blame comes in to it - this would appear to be what has happened this time.

I can see why they've chosen the start of tenancy date (as described in Lincroft's post) as it's an easy to date to use for the property being occupied but it doesn't really gel with ensuring the list is correct - it has always come across as an easy way out when I've seen it done and I've never really agreed with it (except perhaps where the tenancy and property coming in to being are pretty much the same date) as it lets people off a charge that should be due (especially considering budgetary issues).

Craig

lincroft1710

Sorry but my memory has failed me again. A Completion Notice is actually issued before a building has been completed (I have amended my post). In your case there will not be a Completion Notice, although often a council will give a date to the VOA.

Talk to the VOA, ask them why they believe the effective date is the start of your tenancy.

justwondering25

Thank you both for all your help, based on the letter coming from the VOA that the council said will remedy the VOA's mistake, when should I consider the date has been corrected officially .

Currently am I within my rights to only accept a bill from the 29/01/17 , or am i Incorrect and just coming across as awkward to the council.

How can I be sure the date has been changed and how can I ask for proof officially ?

I

lincroft1710

The VOA should send a corrective notice, but it might be a week or two if the VOA still have the same policy of only issuing updates once a month.

justwondering25

Just a quick update , new amended bills have arrived , due date the 27th of this month .

If the VOA have not sent out a corrective notice by say the 25th of this month and the council tax banding web site still shows the effective date of the 29/01/17 , would I be within my rights to ask the council to re-issues the bills from the 29/01/17 or at the very least to expect the bills to go on hold until I can clearly see the effective date has been corrected.

I am just trying to think ahead at this point .