Never paid council tax!

HomingPigeon

My council sends a statement to me every year, with a breakdown of the following year's charges. I would imagine all councils do the same. If your mum's friend keeps all her paperwork and can't find any reference to council tax, it sounds (to me) like she's never been asked to pay any. Good luck to your friend in sorting it out.

Resurrect

Hi all, she has had the following reply. Any thoughts / suggestions welcomed!! 

Thank you for contacting us on 1 July 2020 regarding the above.

 

You will need to contact your local council via their main switchboard and ask to speak to the department that deals with the banding of new properties.  Ask them to send us a report for your property to be banded for domestic purposes. This allows the council to update the emergency services’ database and ensure they have the correct address for billing purposes.

 

You can find contact details for your local council at: www.gov.uk/find-local-council

 

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 it will take longer for us to respond than usual. We're sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. Please see the VOA website for more information on how our services are affected and refer to gov.uk for the latest support available for businesses.

 

Yours sincerely 

 

Customer Service Centre

CIS

You will need to contact your local council via their main switchboard and ask to speak to the department that deals with the banding of new properties

The VOA appear to be now trying to only get councils to notify them - the council should pass over details of new properties they become aware of to the VOA however the VOA have previously taken these reports directly. If the VOA are saying they'll only take the information from the council you may as well do so, saves the arguing.
Be careful though not to get yourself stuck too deeply in a hole without making sure everything is being done correctly for the council tax side.

CIS

HomingPigeon said:

My council sends a statement to me every year, with a breakdown of the following year's charges. I would imagine all councils do the same. If your mum's friend keeps all her paperwork and can't find any reference to council tax, it sounds (to me) like she's never been asked to pay any. Good luck to your friend in sorting it out.

It is a legal requirement to do so.

Resurrect

Be careful though not to get yourself stuck too deeply in a hole without making sure everything is being done correctly for the council tax side.

Thanks again CIS.

Can you please elaborate? When she calls the council, not to tell them too much about it never been paid and that’s it an old property that wasn’t valued? 

CIS

Resurrect said:

Be careful though not to get yourself stuck too deeply in a hole without making sure everything is being done correctly for the council tax side.

Thanks again CIS.

Can you please elaborate? When she calls the council, not to tell them too much about it never been paid and that’s it an old property that wasn’t valued? 

No. What I mean is make sure you are aware at any point that you don't get stuck in to dealing with something that's getting beyond what you can manage. It should be a process which you can manage but just keep the awareness of when you might need to step back and get some help or take some time to think (especially so due to the amounts involved - don't always assume the council are always correct in what they say and do) - it's very easy to get fixed on being able to sort things yourself and get stuck in to something that rapidly goes over your head (unfortunately it's something I see too often).

sourcrates

OP, would you mind keeping this thread updated, as i`d really like to know the outcome of this, and how it gets dealt with, if indeed, she never paid any CT.

Thanks SC

Resurrect

Hello all,

She called the council who couldn’t understand the situation & have raised it as an urgent problem & they’ll call her back.

They said they didn’t have the property on their system, and a debt would be due for unpaid council tax that would have to come out of the estate. 

I’ll let you know what happens next. 

RAS

thanks, when they write, please come back here and speak to CIS before she pays anything.

sourcrates

RAS said:

thanks, when they write, please come back here and speak to CIS before she pays anything.

I agree with this, as this may even fall within the limitation act, after six years simple contract debts become statute barred, council tax is a simple contract debt, you should definitely get advice before proceeding with this.