Quandry re: Univeristy 'Certificates' for Council Tax

kissmeimposh

Recently some I was discussing student exemption from council tax, with some mates who go to different Uni's. We discovered a very odd reality regarding the student confirmation letters ('certificates') that uni's routinely issue to local councils for students to get exemption from council tax: Regarding the end date of the course, it seems that many universities treat it differently: my course-end date was stated as the last day of teaching, while a mate from a different university had her end date be the date of the last final exam at the uni (even though her exam was a week earlier), and two of our lucky mates had their end date stated as the date of graduation quite some time after the end of their final exams. Altougether there's a difference of hundreds of pounds in council tax just between the differences in the dates of our small group.
Is there no standard as to what comprises an end of study date for purposes of council tax? If I had my end of course date stated to be the date of graduation I would be several pounds quids in. Seems highly peculiar that registrar secrtaries can have that much impact on how much council tax students pay! Have you known similar experience?

Gingernutmeg

OH and I had a similar experience - our last certificates were dated 'June 07' (no specific date, just the month) so our local council charged us council tax from the beginning of June, even though we we were still studying and taking exams until the end of the month. It was a bit of a shock suddenly having to find £140 a month that we hadn't really budgeted for and didn't have time to work extra hours for, as we had assumed that the exemption would last until the end of June, and the c/t would start in July. I never realised it wasn't standardised.

kissmeimposh

Ginger, if you appeal to the council for a refund and they refuse you then you can go to the Valuation Tribunal Service. I know someone in a similar situation who was awarded an extension/continuation of the student exemption, by the Tribunal, until the end of exams - even after the date stiuplated the uni certificate! The tribunal recognized that the student was a student until the exams were completed. Councils can be very misleading and very wrong in this regard.

Gingernutmeg

Meh, I would but that was a year ago and we've moved out of the area since then. I've got other hassles to deal with now! But thanks for the info, I'll pass it on to my friends who are still students in that area, I'm sure it'll help someone