Council Tax - confused

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  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    CIS wrote: »
    Do you by any chance have the same name or initials as your father ?

    Nope, same surname but not name or initials. My father has not lived at this property for over 20 years, lives in private care under a different county council etc and if it's relevant at all, my parents are legally divorced but each own an equal share of the house (50/50).
    I assume it's possible the council made an incorrect assumption that I am a resident owner or my name is on the property.

    I wanted to get your thoughts on one other aspect too, I work full time but am (unofficially) a carer for my mum and would satisfy the 35 hrs per week threshold. However should I include this in my query to the council re potential incorrect liability or hold off for now to avoid muddying the waters and raise this separately once the liability query is resolved?
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    I wanted to get your thoughts on one other aspect too, I work full time but am (unofficially) a carer for my mum and would satisfy the 35 hrs per week threshold. However should I include this in my query to the council re potential incorrect liability or hold off for now to avoid muddying the waters and raise this separately once the liability query is resolved?

    Personally I'd suggest resolving one at a time as the council seem to have confused themselves enough as it is.

    Did they backdate the SMI disregard all the way ?



    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.
  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    CIS wrote: »
    Personally I'd suggest resolving one at a time as the council seem to have confused themselves enough as it is.

    Did they backdate the SMI disregard all the way

    Craig

    Ok, sounds sensible, will start with liability issue first. I noticed the links you provided earlier on the thread were for lfga 92...is it advisable to.reference.this on my query?

    No they did not backdate but based on what they have done so far I'm concerned if I ask for a backdate I will be slapped with council tax liability going back for the same amount of time.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    No they did not backdate but based on what they have done so far I'm concerned if I ask for a backdate I will be slapped with council tax liability going back for the same amount of time.


    I would encourage an attempt to backdate the SMI as far as possible (backdating is probably the number one issue I see !).
    I noticed the links you provided earlier on the thread were for lfga 92...is it advisable to.reference.this on my query?
    Unless your confident to specifically argue legislation then I would simply say that under s6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 you don't believe you are liable for the charge for XYZ.
    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.
  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    CIS wrote: »
    I would encourage an attempt to backdate the SMI as far as possible (backdating is probably the number one issue I see !).


    Unless your confident to specifically argue legislation then I would simply say that under s6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 you don't believe you are liable for the charge for XYZ.

    Thanks again! I will give it a go and keep you posted.
  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    The Council responded to my query with following: 'for purposes of council tax our records reflect that since we are in receipt of a smi form for your mother, she is now disregarded and since you live at the property the council tax bill goes into your name'

    They also mentioned a carers form would be sent since I may be eligible for a further discount.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    noclaf wrote: »
    The Council responded to my query with following: 'for purposes of council tax our records reflect that since we are in receipt of a smi form for your mother, she is now disregarded and since you live at the property the council tax bill goes into your name'

    They also mentioned a carers form would be sent since I may be eligible for a further discount.


    They are still getting the liability wrong based on what you have posted. Some councils are great, others I have felt like banging my head off the wall in trying to get them see sense when challenged.



    The carers disregard is correct in that there's a good chance it applies.
    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.
  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    CIS wrote: »
    They are still getting the liability wrong based on what you have posted. Some councils are great, others I have felt like banging my head off the wall in trying to get them see sense when challenged.



    The carers disregard is correct in that there's a good chance it applies.

    Unfortunately it appears I'm dealing with the latter type of council's.....

    Carers disregard....my mum receives the ' lower rate' of attendance allowance so I may not be eligible but am checking with the council anyway before I start filling in forms etc
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    noclaf wrote: »
    Unfortunately it appears I'm dealing with the latter type of council's.....

    Carers disregard....my mum receives the ' lower rate' of attendance allowance so I may not be eligible but am checking with the council anyway before I start filling in forms etc


    It can be any rate of AA, legislation simply states "an attendance allowance under section 65 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992"
    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.
  • noclaf
    noclaf Posts: 892 Forumite
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    CIS wrote: »
    It can be any rate of AA, legislation simply states "an attendance allowance under section 65 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992"

    Unfortunately as I suspected they would, the council have now confirmed I would not be eligible as a carer unless my mum received the higher rate of AA.

    They have also.provided me a council tax support.number to call if I have further queries....translates as we had enough of your questions!

    So apart from a 3x higher tax bill for our household, we can conclude that some council's are not following any legislation by the looks of it.

    Any ideas how I might progress this/next steps?
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