Liability to Council Tax in the UK while travelling abroad or living abroad

Lost_in_La_Mancha

Thanks for all the interesting replies.

Yes - one possibility is the relative not claiming the single person discount just to err on the safe side - and me paying them the money they lose out on. However, would my name then have to go down on their council tax form as living there (when I'm not really)? Or can they just say to the council that they don't want to claim the discount without giving any reason?

lincroft1710

If you are not an owner, tenant or actual occupier where there are neither of these, you have no responsibility for paying CT. There has to be a definite intention to return on your part for there to be any possibility of your relative not receiving SPD whilst he is a sole occupier or sole non disregarded occupier.

00ec25

Lost_in_La_Mancha wrote: »

Thanks for all the interesting replies.

Yes - one possibility is the relative not claiming the single person discount just to err on the safe side - and me paying them the money they lose out on. However, would my name then have to go down on their council tax form as living there (when I'm not really)? Or can they just say to the council that they don't want to claim the discount without giving any reason?

your relative is not required to claim the discount so I don't see where you are hung up on your relative explaining anything to the council. Post can be sent to an address where you are not registered as resident. A claim to SPD is not dependent on all post being in one name only, and you have been given the reason why the relative can in fact claim SPD anyway in post #2

- you state that you have no intention of returning to the relative's property, your intention, if it came to it, would be to rent elsewhere

- you were not resident there before you left anyway so there is no prior association with the property as an occupant.

- if it comes to it, you can show you are resident abroad through whatever documents you have. They won't be needed unless the council challenges your relative to "prove " her claim to SPD, which, as explained in #2, would be adjudicated on by a tribunal if the council alleges you are resident and you, quite rightly given the facts, say you are not.