COUNCIL TAX LEVY ON SECOND HOMES

Troublshooter1

Hi everyone, reaching out for some good strong advice here. my scenario>>>
I have an elderly aunt and uncle, he's English, 90 yrs she is a Swiss National 85 yrs
They have lived in Zurich for over 50 years, they bought a house in UK in 1997.
From 97 to 2024/25 they paid the normal council tax going rate .
Since 97 they have pretty much every year spent 6 months in Zurich and 6 months in the UK
For 25/26 council tax year, our local council has deemed this a SECOND home, and accordingly
levied a 100pct premium on the council tax. so from approx £3700 to £7400 for forthcoming year.
Would anyone be able to shine a light on , Is the classification of Second home correct in this instance?
Many thanks for any kind input

lincroft1710

As they already had had a home in Zurich for around 22 years before buying the English property, it seems correct that the English house is a second home. Age is only relevant to CT liability where a person is under 18

uptdale

lincroft1710 said:

As they already had had a home in Zurich for around 22 years before buying the English property, it seems correct that the English house is a second home. Age is only relevant to CT liability where a person is under 18

It is common for residence patterns to change as a result of retirement, and I cannot see from the legislation how the length of time each property has been owned can be the determining factor.  The are two conditions to be satisfied to make a home a "dwelling occupied periodically" - i.e. a "second home":

1.  there is no resident of the dwelling, and
2.  the dwelling is substantially furnished.

Assuming that the English house is substantially furnished, it comes down to determining whether the Swiss house or the English house is the couple's main home.  I can't find anything in the government guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-empty-homes-and-second-homes-council-tax-premiums-and-exceptions/guidance-on-the-implementation-of-the-council-tax-premiums-on-long-term-empty-homes-and-second-homes) or the council tax legislation which helps to define main home, so I guess it must be a matter of fact. This is a useful summary of relevant tribunal cases and factors to be considered: https://www.gosport.gov.uk/article/1482/Sole-or-Main-Residence

Even then it may not be easy to decide in a case like this, where their time is split evenly between two properties, there is no personal reason for deciding which is their main home and they have local connections (club memberships, registration with a doctor, receive post) at both homes.  If they live for 6 months mostly at one property and 6 months mostly at the other, and their intention is to continue that pattern, it might also be possible that their main home for 6 months is the Swiss house and for the next 6 months is the English house.

A similar issue would also arise for capital gains tax if they were to sell either house at a time when one or both were tax resident in the UK.

lincroft1710

uptdale said:

lincroft1710 said:

As they already had had a home in Zurich for around 22 years before buying the English property, it seems correct that the English house is a second home. Age is only relevant to CT liability where a person is under 18

It is common for residence patterns to change as a result of retirement, and I cannot see from the legislation how the length of time each property has been owned can be the determining factor.  The are two conditions to be satisfied to make a home a "dwelling occupied periodically" - i.e. a "second home":

1.  there is no resident of the dwelling, and
2.  the dwelling is substantially furnished.

Assuming that the English house is substantially furnished, it comes down to determining whether the Swiss house or the English house is the couple's main home.  I can't find anything in the government guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/long-term-empty-homes-and-second-homes-council-tax-premiums-and-exceptions/guidance-on-the-implementation-of-the-council-tax-premiums-on-long-term-empty-homes-and-second-homes) or the council tax legislation which helps to define main home, so I guess it must be a matter of fact. This is a useful summary of relevant tribunal cases and factors to be considered: https://www.gosport.gov.uk/article/1482/Sole-or-Main-Residence

Even then it may not be easy to decide in a case like this, where their time is split evenly between two properties, there is no personal reason for deciding which is their main home and they have local connections (club memberships, registration with a doctor, receive post) at both homes.  If they live for 6 months mostly at one property and 6 months mostly at the other, and their intention is to continue that pattern, it might also be possible that their main home for 6 months is the Swiss house and for the next 6 months is the English house.

A similar issue would also arise for capital gains tax if they were to sell either house at a time when one or both were tax resident in the UK.

From what the OP posted, it seems they live in Switzerland and visit England. I don't know that you can have a "main residence" at one address for 6 months and at a second address for a subsequent 6 months. What do they have in Switzerland that they don't have in England, a car, bank account(s), voting rights, doctor, dentist etc?


If they cannot convince the council that the English home is their main residence, they could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. But from my considerable experience of VTs, I would not be confident they would reach the right decision

uptdale

lincroft1710 said:

From what the OP posted, it seems they live in Switzerland and visit England. I don't know that you can have a "main residence" at one address for 6 months and at a second address for a subsequent 6 months. What do they have in Switzerland that they don't have in England, a car, bank account(s), voting rights, doctor, dentist etc?

I read the OP as saying that they live in Switzerland for half of the year and live in England for half of the year.  It is certainly possible to live in more than one house.  That is recognised by the UK/Switzerland Double Tax Agreement (which sets out what happens if a taxpayer is tax resident in the UK under UK rules and in Switzerland under Swiss rules), the electoral commission, which allows voters to register to vote at two addresses if they are eligible (https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/who-can-vote/other-registration-options/voting-and-second-homes ) and the capital gains tax legislation. If there are are two residences it always comes back to determining which is the main home, based on the facts and circumstances of the case.  Sometimes there is no easy answer, especially when both homes have most of the attributes of a main home.  You can't just decide on the basis of where you spend most time, because that begs the question of over what period do you measure that.  If you measured it over 6 months, you would not get the same answer as measuring it over a year.

There are things you could do in theory to make the issue easier to decide, e.g. they could rent out the Swiss house when they are not there.  But they may have reasons for not wanting to do that.

lincroft1710

There's one aspect of this for which I am most grateful, it isn't me who has to make a decision about whether or not the English house is a second home.

Without further details/evidence to the contrary I would guess the council will rightly or wrongly just decide this is a second home

Troublshooter1

Many thanks for all feedback/information, very insightful and appreciated