Paying Council Tax on two homes

Beecroft123

Hi

I hope you can help.

I will be working away and living on my own in a rental property during the week.
I understand that I will need to pay council tax on this rental property and can claim single occupancy discount.

My question is - can my partner claim single occupancy discount on the other house as I will only be there at weekends and paying council tax on another property?

Many thanks for your help with this

Albermarle

Beecroft123 said:

Hi

I hope you can help.

I will be working away and living on my own in a rental property during the week.
I understand that I will need to pay council tax on this rental property and can claim single occupancy discount.

My question is - can my partner claim single occupancy discount on the other house as I will only be there at weekends and paying council tax on another property?

Many thanks for your help with this

It is maybe a rather specific question for this board.
You might be better off posting it here
Cutting tax — MoneySavingExpert Forum
or here
Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Sterlingtimes

Beecroft123 said:

Hi

I hope you can help.

I will be working away and living on my own in a rental property during the week.
I understand that I will need to pay council tax on this rental property and can claim single occupancy discount.

My question is - can my partner claim single occupancy discount on the other house as I will only be there at weekends and paying council tax on another property?

Many thanks for your help with this

I was in the same position with a house in the Midlands and a weekday flat in Leeds.

Here is Birmingham's position by way of an example:

We may have to decide which is your main residence.  You may be asked for further information for us to check which property is classed as your main residence. If your second home is job-related, that is, your employment contract requires you to live in the property, you may be entitled to a discount of 50%. If one of your properties is outside Birmingham, please include a copy of your Council Tax bill for this property with your application for a discount. To apply, please complete the general council tax enquiry form.

Presumably, you could declare your rental property as your main residence and your partner could declare your home property as her/his main residence. I steered away from the double discount because of my concern that this could cause complications elsewhere. 

Farway

Sterlingtimes said:

Beecroft123 said:

Hi

I hope you can help.

I will be working away and living on my own in a rental property during the week.
I understand that I will need to pay council tax on this rental property and can claim single occupancy discount.

My question is - can my partner claim single occupancy discount on the other house as I will only be there at weekends and paying council tax on another property?

Many thanks for your help with this

I was in the same position with a house in the Midlands and a weekday flat in Leeds.

Here is Birmingham's position by way of an example:

We may have to decide which is your main residence.  You may be asked for further information for us to check which property is classed as your main residence. If your second home is job-related, that is, your employment contract requires you to live in the property, you may be entitled to a discount of 50%. If one of your properties is outside Birmingham, please include a copy of your Council Tax bill for this property with your application for a discount. To apply, please complete the general council tax enquiry form.

Presumably, you could declare your rental property as your main residence and your partner could declare your home property as her/his main residence. I steered away from the double discount because of my concern that this could cause complications elsewhere. 

You're right, it could if you sell because it would not be your main residence, and I'm no expert, but Capital gains tax may arise from selling a house you do not, officially, live in

Savvy_Sue

I think councils are also leary of couples living apart in this situation. I seem to remember a thread from aeons ago (so I'm not even going to hunt for it) where one of a couple was living elsewhere for work, and not home that often, but the 'home' half of the couple couldn't claim single person discount. 

Sterlingtimes

Savvy_Sue said:

I think councils are also leary of couples living apart in this situation. I seem to remember a thread from aeons ago (so I'm not even going to hunt for it) where one of a couple was living elsewhere for work, and not home that often, but the 'home' half of the couple couldn't claim single person discount. 

I suppose that this would open the way for a two-home couple to claim that each partner lives in a different home.

Savvy_Sue

Sterlingtimes said:

Savvy_Sue said:

I think councils are also leary of couples living apart in this situation. I seem to remember a thread from aeons ago (so I'm not even going to hunt for it) where one of a couple was living elsewhere for work, and not home that often, but the 'home' half of the couple couldn't claim single person discount. 

I suppose that this would open the way for a two-home couple to claim that each partner lives in a different home.

Absolutely, so you can understand why they'd resist such a claim.

marcia_

AFAIK you can't claim single person discount because the main home is still your main residence even if you are away half the week.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/benefits-tax-credits

SiliconChip

@marcia_ is correct, at one time I owned two properties, a small house in the country that I nominated as my main residence and claimed single occupant discount on, and a much smaller studie flat in the city that I used during the week while I was working on which I paid the full council tax. The OP is in the same situation as a couple is treated in the same way as one person for CT except for not being eligible for the discount. Whether you would be caught if you claimed the discount at the rental property is a question that can't be answered until it happens, but is it worth the risk?