Locked down abroad, council tax refund?

longjohnjohnson

Uxb1 said:

In which case if it was a property tax all properties whether empty, holiday homes, or fully lived in should be charged at exactly the same rate according only to the size of the property.

In practice that int' what happens.
single people get a discount so the number resident in the property does make a difference.
and in Wales holiday/second homes (which use next to no council services at all) are charged a supplementary fee on top of the council tax - which is basically a wealth tax add-on.
and as mentioned above those properties long term totally empty also get charged extra

Those are exemptions.  And there aren't very many.

If the OP can get a discount for their (unintended) extended holiday, can everyone get on for their jollies in Porto Wherever?  If not, why not?

In fact, can I get a discount for every second I'm outside the house?  If not, why not?

Ultimately the OP was both the owner and resident of the property.  If they were asked do you own a property and where do you live they'd answer yes and give its address rather than no and some address in Africa.

Its also complete hogwash that they couldn't get back until Christmas Eve.  We didn't close our borders, so the OP didn't try very hard to get back.

macman

Right, I'm off to The Bahamas for the winter, I think I'll stay for 6 months. Then claim a CT discount when I get back for 6 months non-occupation....what could possibly go wrong?

PraCh

I have tried this with my council in London a few years ago. I was unable to return to my property as i had an injury and couldnt travel. When I mentioned this to the council (I was away of 4 months) - they laughed at me and dismissed my request in under a second.