Council tax - single occupancy confusion

Grumpy_chap

sky_rat said:

she is on the electoral, so why don’t they automatically cancel the discount ? 

They will probably claim the the Electoral Services Department cannot share information with the Council Tax Department for reasons associated with GDPR.

They may even have a (technical) point.  Under GDPR, your data can only be used for the purpose it was given.  Was the information about your Daughter's age and place or residence only given for the purpose of Electoral Registration?  Or was that information given for the purpose of all uses within the operation of the Council services and obligations?

sky_rat

Grumpy_chap said:

sky_rat said:

she is on the electoral, so why don’t they automatically cancel the discount ? 

They will probably claim the the Electoral Services Department cannot share information with the Council Tax Department for reasons associated with GDPR.

They may even have a (technical) point.  Under GDPR, your data can only be used for the purpose it was given.  Was the information about your Daughter's age and place or residence only given for the purpose of Electoral Registration?  Or was that information given for the purpose of all uses within the operation of the Council services and obligations?

I had to register her with a GP and tell child maintenance that she lives here to stop the payments. 

So the authorities know full well she lives here. 

Yet they do not communicate with each other ?

seems like a great opportunity for fraud, so what stops someone lying about their situation ? 

Spoonie_Turtle

sky_rat said:

Grumpy_chap said:

sky_rat said:

she is on the electoral, so why don’t they automatically cancel the discount ? 

They will probably claim the the Electoral Services Department cannot share information with the Council Tax Department for reasons associated with GDPR.

They may even have a (technical) point.  Under GDPR, your data can only be used for the purpose it was given.  Was the information about your Daughter's age and place or residence only given for the purpose of Electoral Registration?  Or was that information given for the purpose of all uses within the operation of the Council services and obligations?

I had to register her with a GP and tell child maintenance that she lives here to stop the payments. 

So the authorities know full well she lives here. 

Yet they do not communicate with each other ?

seems like a great opportunity for fraud, so what stops someone lying about their situation ? 

So the part of the NHS in your country (there are different NHS bodies for each UK nation) that deals with GP surgeries, knows.  The Child Maintenance Service, a sub-department of the DWP (itself a government department), knows.  Neither of these are linked to the Council department that deals with Council Tax.

Fairly sure if a public authority suspects fraud they can communicate with other departments and authorities.  It's just not information that's freely and automatically shared among different organisations, only shared if there is a basis for doing so.

born_again

sky_rat said:

Grumpy_chap said:

sky_rat said:

Is the person moving in under 18?  If the only person moving in is the person under 18, you do not need to complete the form.

Your have a person who is now 18 "moving in" by virtue of turning 18.

I think you know that the single person discount is no longer available, so just fill in the form in whatever way achieves the outcome of the discount being cancelled and the new CT bill being issued. 

I assume the Council will know that your Daughter lives at the property because of the Electoral Role submission which should have included her as over 16.

As Neil49 said, it’s poorly phrased

And this is what I don’t understand about council tax and tax. They already have the information, so why don’t they just automatically apply it ?

she is on the electoral, so why don’t they automatically cancel the discount ? 

They have all the information on me yet I have to put in the effort of checking, understanding and informing. 

Just seems absurd to me. 

Then to top it off they can’t even phrase basic English, which just adds to confusion !

Separate & legacy systems, that do not & at a guess never will talk to each other due to the cost of doing so. Staff simply will not have time to run through extra checks, thanks to cutbacks & all ready too busy with backlogs.

sheramber

Your daughter is not moving in.

 She moved in 2 years ago.

Your time to answer 'yes' was 2 years ago, not this year.

sky_rat

sheramber said:

Your daughter is not moving in.

 She moved in 2 years ago.

Your time to answer 'yes' was 2 years ago, not this year.

Why would I answer 'yes' to cancelling my single occupancy discount two year ago when she was aged 16 t?

It even says in the statement "Please note if there is a person moving in under 18 they do not need to be included in this form" !

And when she was 18 she was still in full time education, which is also an exemption for single occupancy discount.

peteuk

If you answered yes two years ago, it wouldnt have cancelled your discount because youd still be one adult over the age of 18.  At the point of your daughter turning 18 you would had had to reapply because of her status in full time education. 

The easiest thing to do now is call your council tax office advise them of the situation and they can make the required change. 

sky_rat

peteuk said:

If you answered yes two years ago, it wouldnt have cancelled your discount because youd still be one adult over the age of 18.  At the point of your daughter turning 18 you would had had to reapply because of her status in full time education. 

The easiest thing to do now is call your council tax office advise them of the situation and they can make the required change. 

Its not possible to have answered this two years ago.

As shown in the screenshot below, there are no options to add a person under 18.  The only option is "I want to cancel a single person discount"...



And thats where the question about someone moving in appears...



But the statement under this question clearly states that under 18s do not need to be included...

"Please note, if there is a person moving in who is under the age of 18 they do not need to be included in this form" 

sheramber

sky_rat said:

peteuk said:

If you answered yes two years ago, it wouldnt have cancelled your discount because youd still be one adult over the age of 18.  At the point of your daughter turning 18 you would had had to reapply because of her status in full time education. 

The easiest thing to do now is call your council tax office advise them of the situation and they can make the required change. 

Its not possible to have answered this two years ago.

As shown in the screenshot below, there are no options to add a person under 18.  The only option is "I want to cancel a single person discount"...



And thats where the question about someone moving in appears...



But the statement under this question clearly states that under 18s do not need to be included...

"Please note, if there is a person moving in who is under the age of 18 they do not need to be included in this form" 

That is not the section you were querying in your first post

EnPointe

sky_rat said:

sheramber said:

sky_rat said:

sheramber said:

sky_rat said:

sheramber said:

My daughter moved in a few years ago when she was 16.  

How many years is a few years  and how old is she now?

She moved in 2 years ago aged 16, so she’s 18 now

The statement says somebody under the age of 18 . She is  18 so it no longer applies. 

She moved in when 16 so not moving in now. 

I’m confused ?

So it’s her age when she moves in that applies?

the fact she is no longer under 18 means I still get the discount ? 

She could live here until she’s 40 and I would still get discount ?

because she was 16 when she moved in ?

No, it only applies until she is 18. 

Once  she is 18 she is no longer distegarded

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/who-has-to-pay#:~:text=A%20full%20Council%20Tax%20bill,responsible%20for%20paying%20the%20bill.

So why do they say "If they are the only resident moving in, you do not need to complete this form".  

She is the only resident who has moved in !  

No one else has moved in. 

The statement reads that if she is the only person who has moved in, then there is no need to complete the form. 

Is the statement incorrect then?

if the only resident moving in is under 18 , then you do not need to complete the form . 

as someone who was previously  disregarded is now resident you need to inform the council they are no longer disregarded and the  single occupant discounty  will be cancelled