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Council Tax Dilemma

2

Comments

  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    After reading my above I'd recommend a couple of paracetamol and/or a large drink.

    Craig
    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.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    lincroft1710 wrote: »
    So the son is working, but is regarded as a student. The father is the de iure occupier, but the son is the de facto occupier

    Aint council tax legislation wonderful.

    Craig
    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.
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 19,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    CIS wrote: »
    Aint council tax legislation wonderful.

    Craig

    Yeah. We had our problems in the VOA, but never ones like this
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    lincroft1710 wrote: »
    Yeah. We had our problems in the VOA, but never ones like this

    In over a decade it's the first case like this I've ever had any dealing with. I can't recall ever seeing anything like it either in the tribunal decisions.

    Luckily I think under Part 2 of what I posted the OP may not be liable - depending on the tenancy and Part 1 is probably a technical argument which is worth accepting the council's decision (as far as the liability in Part 2 is concerned, anyway).

    Craig
    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.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 50,024 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    having dealt with Manchester council tax department regarding student status, I would say keep plugging away with this statement:

    "I have received a Council Tax bill and wrote informing the council that my son has an exemption certificate as he is a student. I explained that my name was on the tenancy agreement for financial reasons but that he was the only person living in the flat."

    Bottom line is that for the 3 months this will be his main residence and he is a student, so should be exempt. Students float around between parents home, term time addresses and anywhere in between, so accepting the address is short term shouldn't be a problem.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    He can't receive a class n exemption on the property, legislation doesn't allow it (regardless of the fact he is a student). Arguing over that point is a lost cause, as per my earlier post.

    Craig
    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.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 50,024 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    CIS wrote: »
    He can't receive a class n exemption on the property, legislation doesn't allow it (regardless of the fact he is a student). Arguing over that point is a lost cause, as per my earlier post.

    Craig

    I'm not convinced.

    a) He will be the only resident
    b) he is as a student

    Therefore he should not be billed.

    That should be enough to satisfy Manchester council to withdraw the bill.

    Note I am not saying that if it went before a tribunal he would win on your technicality, but that it is sufficient for that council to withdraw the bill. The council are used to dealing with student accommodation and exemptions.

    It maybe that the bill then gets sent to the landlord, but that wouldn't be OP's or the student's problem.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    He's not resident as far as council tax legislation is concerned as it's not his sole or main residence and it's not his term time accommodation so he meets neither of the two allowed criteria for a class n exemption. The council must follow the legislation even though student cases can be a pain, dealt with thousands of ones over the years and there were often various problems which popped up but they all had to follow the legislation.

    As it is the council have made a decision regarding the class n and would be unlikely to change it without a tribunal. I agree with the council's decision on this aspect, on the rest I'd not fully agree.

    As I've added, the second issue I posted may solve the issue anyway once the liability is considered , depending on the tenancy.

    Craig
    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.
  • WALK9763
    WALK9763 Posts: 34 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 10 Posts
    WOW - Thanks all for the comments and opinions! It looks like it's going to be 6 of 1 and half a dozen of another. He's moving out mid September so hopefully I'll get it sorted before then. I'm sort of resigned to the fact that I'll have to pay it - my hope now is that I can get a single occupancy discount ......
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 50,024 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    WALK9763 wrote: »
    WOW - Thanks all for the comments and opinions! It looks like it's going to be 6 of 1 and half a dozen of another. He's moving out mid September so hopefully I'll get it sorted before then. I'm sort of resigned to the fact that I'll have to pay it - my hope now is that I can get a single occupancy discount ......

    I don't think that is the way to go.

    I would be pressing for exemption on the issue 2 Craig posted.

    The council would be agreeable to put it on hold whilst it is sorted.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
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