Council Tax, 1 student, 1 non student

CIS

When we moved into our flat he rang up the council to ask about single person's discount and was told (incorrectly) that he was not eligible

Technically that is correct- a single person discount doesn't apply under your circumstances however they should have applied a student disregard of 25%.

cupid_s

CIS, I think it may vary depending on the individual council area. Because on our council tax letter, it says:

if only 1 adult lives in your house you can get a 25% 'single persons discount'. when working out the number of adults living in your home we do not count certain groups of people. (and students are listed as not being included)

I am a student and our council tax bill says we get single persons discount because to them I dont exist and DH is the only adult living in our house.

bluejmc2005

if the non student was not working and had to claim council tax benefit, would the students loan be counted as income?

clairec79

my student bursary was (however we were a married couple)

bluejmc2005

yeah mine is too at the moment, i am married, but the regulations bought in april 2004 confuse me

celyn90

bluejmc2005 wrote: »

if the non student was not working and had to claim council tax benefit, would the students loan be counted as income?

Tough one. I've had this problem with my then flatmate not working and my PhD stipend being the only income. I was told that we had to pay the council tax until I phoned up the benefits agency and explained I was a student and that my only income was a bursary not a wage - therefore they were asking me to pay his council tax and as I was a student and therefore exempt how did it work. Lady on the other end was really not helpful - but in the end (after many many phone calls), I had to provide proof of student status and the level of income from my stipend and we didn't have to pay.

CIS - on my last council tax bill it shows up as single person because like cupid_s says, I don't exist to them either - but we still had to give the documents for student status in rather than claim for the single persons discount even though that is what it says on the paper work.

bluejmc2005

ahhh really? who did you call exactly, as i will try that. I have zero faith in the benefit team at the council, I honestly (and i dont mean this arrogantly) think i know more about these particularly regulations than they do

celyn90

bluejmc2005 wrote: »

ahhh really? who did you call exactly, as i will try that. I have zero faith in the benefit team at the council, I honestly (and i dont mean this arrogantly) think i know more about these particularly regulations than they do

I just called the council tax team repeatedly on his behalf and didn't give up. I'm a student, I had their proof of exemption with me. I had an EPSRC studentship that paid not very much and was untaxable. Our finances were separate, and we were not married or dating (he was actually married to someone else but separted) so it was my income, not my flatmates. It took ages, we got wrong bills for months, and everytime I wrote a letter to make sure it was in writing and asked for a new, correct bill as we didn't want arrears. I phoned them up and repeated the request over the phone. I though the hassle was harsh TBH, he wasn't claiming anything else, just asking not to have to pay council tax as he had no income at all.

They had me in tears a few times; I don't know what the regulations are (or anything about them), but to me it really didn't make sense that if I was granted exemption why I had to pay somebody else's tax; especially somebody unrelated! Just be totally honest with them and send them all the documents they want.

bluejmc2005

I am amrried to my wife, but they wont even accept that i should be exempted; just that we should get only a 25% discount as im a student. it is clear the regulations are not clear at all, but when i bring up the april 2004 srtuff they plead ignorance. My wife has no income other than child benefit and child tax credits, why should we have to pay council tax when if i were alone I would not have to? i have a freidn at uni who is literally a millionaire and he pays nothing!

celyn90

has she tried making a formal application for council tax benefit? That was our starting point.