Council Tax and Second Homes

dw3305

The headline question is whether there are any rules as to which is your second home for Council Tax purposes.  It's not like CGT, where there are specific provisions and you can make elections.  Google simply tells me it's the one that isn't your main home, which doesn't help much.  The question that the cynical may think is my main motivation comes at the end.
My wife and I have two homes and we divide our time between them.  When we retired we decided to keep a flat in the town we had lived in, where most of our friends and family are.  We probably both thought of it as home, and spent marginally more time there than in the country.  But when covid started, and the diary was empty, we had already been in the country for three weeks, and decided to stay there.  Renewing my car insurance, they were quite clear that my address should be where the car was going to be most nights.  I took little persuading to tell the DVLA that was where we were, and also people like my bank so my post would find its way to me.  My wife took the position that as soon as this was over she would be making up for lost time at 'home' and did nothing.
Today I got my country Council Tax demand.  It occurred to me that in the days when there was a second home discount of 50% I would probably have been claiming it fraudulently for the last 12 months.  But the next thought is that I use the country address as my home, my wife still uses the town address, so could we both claim the single resident discount??

lincroft1710

dw3305 said

Today I got my country Council Tax demand.  It occurred to me that in the days when there was a second home discount of 50% I would probably have been claiming it fraudulently for the last 12 months.  But the next thought is that I use the country address as my home, my wife still uses the town address, so could we both claim the single resident discount??

No that is equally fraudulent.

CIS

You can 'use the address; as you like however this doesn't mean you're resident for council tax purposes. Residence for council tax purposes, amongst other things, requires it to be your 'sole or main residence' before the discount can be considered. If it's not then knowingly claiming the discount can amount to fraud.

dw3305

It was a bit tongue in cheek, of course, but the fundamental question is which is my main residence?  As it stands I have spent far more time in 2020/21 in the one that is my second home.  That's where my car is insured, that's where my post is delivered.  If there are restrictions this summer like there were last year, so that visiting friends etc. is off the agenda then 2021/22 will probably be the same.  If we go back to 'normal' the balance probably goes the other way.
If there aren't clear rules, and my wife and I honestly have differing opinions as to which is our main residence, which one of us commits the fraud?

lincroft1710

You commit fraud if you say one of you is living in property A and the other is living in property B when you are both living in the same property whether it is A or B. 

If you are unsure which is your main residence, just give the facts to the council in which the property which you believe is your M R is situated and let them decide.  

dw3305

Thanks.  As it doesn't make any difference at the moment I think I'll do nothing.  If there was a difference (either discount or surcharge) I think I would have to ask both councils to agree between themselves.  If I just approach one there's sufficient evidence for them to decide that they are the one that gets the most money out of me, and I don't suppose the other one would just accept it.  I'm slightly surprised that there aren't more definitive rules, as there are for CGT.  It can't be all that uncommon.

lincroft1710

dw3305 said:

I'm slightly surprised that there aren't more definitive rules, as there are for CGT.  It can't be all that uncommon.

Blame Parliament, they passed the legislation and have the powers to amend it if it is ambiguous or unclear

macman

Unless you can demonstrate that you are legally separated, no LA is likely to accept that you live in one property and your spouse in the other for CT purposes. This topic has been done to death with ref to a family property in the shires and a flat in London used by one for work purposes Monday to Friday.  People used to try it on all the time to get the SPD and it's not accepted.
The fact that you might spend 4 nights in town and 3 away does not make 'town' your permanent residence for CT.

dw3305

macman said:

Unless you can demonstrate that you are legally separated, no LA is likely to accept that you live in one property and your spouse in the other for CT purposes.

It would be a whole lot simpler if that was actually the law.  It doesn't make any difference at the moment, but the fact is that we have spent nearly all the last year in our 'second' home, and even without covid there would probably have come a point where it really was our main home.  If they started to introduce a surcharge in the country we would 'move' in a heartbeat and I don't think anyone could argue.