Council tax banding - council refusing to review

TazCaz

Hello, 

Based on a tip from MSE, my husband and I made a formal proposal to have our Council tax and reviewed and changed, based on the fact all other similar properties in our street are on a lesser tax band. We have just received a reply rejecting the proposal as we became the home owners 12 months ago and limit to appeal is six months. This seems correct but we had no knowledge that tax bands could be incorrect, let alone be able to be appealed/changed until we saw the information on MSE last week. I just want to check if we have any right of reply? We're in Scotland and I believe you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal but it doesn't seem like it's going to do much if the rule is six months. It just seems mad that we can continue to be overcharged on our Council tax bill forever now, just because we had no knowledge this could be wrong!

Thanks

lincroft1710

The Assessor can still reduce the band if they consider it incorrect. However from threads on this board, it seems it can be quite difficult to persuade them a band is incorrect

Woodstok2000

Yes, the rule in law is 6 months and there's not really any way around it - https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/3icndzax/guidance-note-council-tax-banding-time-limit.pdf.  The only possible get-out is that the timing is based on when you first became liable for council tax, not when you bought the house (if those dates are different).

However, it's also possible to request a re-evaluation of your banding without going through the formal appeal - you can just write to the assessor, including all your evidence, and request they review your banding and explain the decision.  They may refuse (as there's no legal obligation) but it is worth a try - they're often very reasonable.

One thing to bear in mind, it may be that every other house is paying too little, rather than you paying too much, so this may have saved your neighbours a few quid!