Never paid council tax!

fatbelly

Resurrect said:

Furnished & now occupied by my friend. 

She was renting elsewhere & moved in after her mum died. She is trying to pay for her time there now since moving in. 

There will be time when her mum lived there alone which she will tell them at the point a bill comes for the years her mum should’ve paid. 

That's fine then - she is liable in her own name so should get a payment plan up and running.

There will be aa bill for the estate to pay - that's what needs to be checked by a specialist.

Resurrect

Resurrect said:

Hi all, 
Sorry for not updating but there hasn’t been anything to report until now.

The Valuation Office Agency has now added the property as a new entry at the estimated market value 34 years ago, and have given it a council tax band. 

Any thoughts on what might happen now? 

Sorry - valued as 1991 market value which she said is the standard for assessing the band it should fall into. 

Resurrect

Ok so she should expect a large bill which will need to be checked off by a specialist & a final figure agreed taking into account sole occupancy that she will need to pay? This could be 34 years x £2k+ so £70k worst case? 

When you say a specialist, is that just a generalist solicitor (ie the one dealing with her mums estate / probate) or is it worth finding one who focuses on this? 

fatbelly

Resurrect said:

Ok so she should expect a large bill which will need to be checked off by a specialist & a final figure agreed taking into account sole occupancy that she will need to pay? This could be 34 years x £2k+ so £70k worst case? 

When you say a specialist, is that just a generalist solicitor (ie the one dealing with her mums estate / probate) or is it worth finding one who focuses on this? 

My gut feeling is that a generalist solicitor handling probate will just pay whatever is asked.

Ask CIS

ryanm8655

Also should her mother’s council tax benefit not be backdated?

CIS

ryanm8655 said:

Also should her mother’s council tax benefit not be backdated?

Council Tax Reduction has time limits on how far back the discount can be backdated (for obvious reasons).

CIS

Resurrect said:

Ok so she should expect a large bill which will need to be checked off by a specialist & a final figure agreed taking into account sole occupancy that she will need to pay? This could be 34 years x £2k+ so £70k worst case? 

When you say a specialist, is that just a generalist solicitor (ie the one dealing with her mums estate / probate) or is it worth finding one who focuses on this? 

To be truthful there are very few people specialising in council tax cases - I do it and I know of one other (who deals only on the appeal side). You may find someone else but there's not many of us about.

Mojisola

Resurrect said:

I am trying to help a friend who’s mum has recently died. When going through her paperwork, it looks like her mum has never ever paid council tax!

If only her name was Cummings!

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18793666.echo-readers-thoughts-cummings-council-tax-written-off/

"That means years of unpaid taxes, potentially between £30,000 and £50,000, will be written off."

CIS

Mojisola said:

Resurrect said:

I am trying to help a friend who’s mum has recently died. When going through her paperwork, it looks like her mum has never ever paid council tax!

If only her name was Cummings!

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18793666.echo-readers-thoughts-cummings-council-tax-written-off/

"That means years of unpaid taxes, potentially between £30,000 and £50,000, will be written off."

It's a bit disingenuous in that article - the council tax charge hasn't been written off as it never existed. It could only have existed if the VOA had banded the property for the period in question, they didn't & therefore no council tax was due. The backdating of council tax bands is not a given, there's quite a lot of factors to consider.

Resurrect

CIS said:

Mojisola said:

Resurrect said:

I am trying to help a friend who’s mum has recently died. When going through her paperwork, it looks like her mum has never ever paid council tax!

If only her name was Cummings!

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18793666.echo-readers-thoughts-cummings-council-tax-written-off/

"That means years of unpaid taxes, potentially between £30,000 and £50,000, will be written off."

It's a bit disingenuous in that article - the council tax charge hasn't been written off as it never existed. It could only have existed if the VOA had banded the property for the period in question, they didn't & therefore no council tax was due. The backdating of council tax bands is not a given, there's quite a lot of factors to consider.

Thanks again CIS.

Could that be the case in my friends situation? It has only now been banded by the VOA, after her mum died and my friend has contacted them asking to pay her bill going forward?