Council tax...where do I stand?

moremoney said:
It's very simple.
A single person gets a reduced council tax.

If you have two or more your tax increases.

The extra tax should then be paid by the other people or persons, as a minimum.
Done.
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Nope that is incorrect

A full time student is not counted as another adult living at the property therefore the other person is treated as a single adult and recieves 25% discount


10. How do discounts work?
The full council tax bill assumes there are two adults
living in a dwelling. If only one adult lives in a dwelling (as
their main home) a single person’s discount will apply
and the council tax is reduced by a quarter (25%). The
bill does not increase if there are more than two adults in
the dwelling.

Certain people are not counted when looking at the
number of adults resident in a dwelling to see whether a
discount should apply. For example, if there are two
adults in a dwelling, and one of them is in one of the
special groups set out in section 12 below, the bill is
worked out as if only one adult lives there and is reduced
by a quarter. The boxes on pages 7–11 set out the main
conditions for each group.

12. Who is not counted?

FULL TIME STUDENTS
You will not be counted if you are a student (or an
overseas student) on a full-time or qualifying course of
education.
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Because the student is exempt, the lone worker is seen as a sole occupant, and the council tax is reduced down to 75% of the whole.

What I was considering, if and when this happens to me (I shall go back to being a student for a year, I'm likely to be living with someone who is working), was paying 25%. Then the person I'm sharing with pays 50%, as if they were living with another worker and there was no single occupancy discount at all, and of course 25% is 'free'.

I think that'd be a good compromise.
 
I was in the same situation, i felt i shouldn't have had to pay anything but as it's a mate i agreed to pay 25% of the council tax, that plus the 25% discount we got due to me being a student worked out as him paying the remaining 50% which seemed fair to both of us.
 
rdizzle said:
So simple you are completely wrong.

The only reason the property gets a discount of council tax is because not all inhabitants are students. For example, if there were 5 of us and say only 3 were students the council tax would be cut to 75% of the full amount.

If my flatmate was to live on his own he would pay 100% of the amount (ie no discount)

I don't know where you are getting this information from.
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Umm. Sorry pet, you're the wrong one.

The 25% discount is issued for single occupancy only. If two or more people in a house are working, there is no discount and the house pays 100% council tax.

If there's a house full of students, no tax is paid.

If there's a house full of students plus /one/ worker, 75% of council tax is paid.

Clear?

Legally, you are exempt. But compromise may make life easier for you.
 
rdizzle said:
So simple you are completely wrong.

The only reason the property gets a discount of council tax is because not all inhabitants are students. For example, if there were 5 of us and say only 3 were students the council tax would be cut to 75% of the full amount.

If my flatmate was to live on his own he would pay 100% of the amount (ie no discount)

The amount of council tax you pay has little (if anything) to do with the amount of inhabitants. They use a grading system to determine how much you pay. That's why all property have "tax bands".

I don't know where you are getting this information from.
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lulz

Its 25% single occupancy discount, students are exempt therefore do not count as occupants. Hence the 25% reduction as he is a lone occupant. In the case of 3 out of 5 being students 100% would be due as there would be 2 occupants.
 
If he lived in a house with 2 working adults he would pay 50% so he should pay that

the other 25% I suggest you split between you as you wouldn't have to pay if he was a student and he wouldn't have to pay it if you worked

so he pays 62.5%

you pay 12.5%


/simples :p
 
Council tax is 50% charge for the property, 25% for the first person, 25% for any additional.

It is the illegitimate child of the old rates system and poll tax, the former being based on property and the latter on the occupants.


While you are a student the council will not follow you for the tax, you are not liable.

For an easy life i would probably take Rottys advice and pay 12.5%, although it is a bit presumptuous that he thought you would stump up the rest of the bill.
 
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Jez said:
lulz

Its 25% single occupancy discount, students are exempt therefore do not count as occupants. Hence the 25% reduction as he is a lone occupant. In the case of 3 out of 5 being students 100% would be due as there would be 2 occupants.
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sara said:
Umm. Sorry pet, you're the wrong one.

The 25% discount is issued for single occupancy only. If two or more people in a house are working, there is no discount and the house pays 100% council tax.

If there's a house full of students, no tax is paid.

If there's a house full of students plus /one/ worker, 75% of council tax is paid.

Clear?

Legally, you are exempt. But compromise may make life easier for you.
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Ok ok my example was incorrect but I knew what I meant (kinda :p)

I think I was still correct in saying what moremoney was saying was wrong though.
 
Either do as Rotty says and pay 12.5% while your flatmate pays 62.5%.

Or pay 25% and flatmate pays 50% but your flatmate should definitely pay most as the discount is for you being a student as such you should not be paying more than 25% maximum in my opinion.

Afterall if you don't pay at least some of it, your flatmate may move out as it would be cheaper for him to do so and you'd just end up worse off or with a hassle due to covering 2 'shares' of rent, unless you could easily find another tenant.
 
sara said:
Umm. Sorry pet, you're the wrong one.

The 25% discount is issued for single occupancy only. If two or more people in a house are working, there is no discount and the house pays 100% council tax.

If there's a house full of students, no tax is paid.

If there's a house full of students plus /one/ worker, 75% of council tax is paid.

Clear?

Legally, you are exempt. But compromise may make life easier for you.
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Thank you.

Also as the named person on the rent book, it is up to you legaly to make sure this tax is paid.

Your single discount is 25% no matter what.
AS a student i do not know if you are entitled to more.
 
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Orion21 said:
Afterall if you don't pay at least some of it, your flatmate may move out as it would be cheaper for him to do so and you'd just end up worse off or with a hassle due to covering 2 'shares' of rent, unless you could easily find another tenant.
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His friend is liable for the rent as well, although do you want to get in a situation of arguing the toss over the small print in your tenancy agreement with the landlord?
 
moremoney said:
Thank you.

Also as the named person on the rent book, it is up to you legaly to make sure this tax is paid.
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No it is not up to him

He is exempt from the tax but his flatmate legally has to pay 75%

Morally it is another issue for them to sort out between themselves
 
We have all made the same mistake here, HIS landlord pays the council tax on his own property.
His landlord then charges council tax from his tennants, that is between the landlord and tennant.
If said tennant is entitkled to a rebait then they have to claim that rebait.
 
moremoney said:
We have all made the same mistake here, HIS landlord pays the council tax on his own property.
His landlord then charges council tax from his tennants, that is between the landlord and tennant.
If said tennant is entitkled to a rebait then they have to claim that rebait.
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That depends entirely on the tenancy agreement, my agreements clearly state that my tenants are liable for all taxes and utilities due for the duration of their tenancy.
 
Jez said:
That depends entirely on the tenancy agreement, my agreements clearly state that my tenants are liable for all taxes and utilities due for the duration of their tenancy.
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As long as you don't live on the same property.

Then you are on the bottom rung for responibility, and the main tennent is responsible.
As i have already tried to say.
 
moremoney said:
The op has said so. Read the thread.


The flat is in my name. I pay the landlord the rent and my flatmate transfers his share into my account every month.
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Ok I stand corrected, really they should be joint tennants but that is another discussion, however this does not change anything due to the legal aspects of the council tax, he is still not liable for it


Dwellings are exempt if they are:
• occupied entirely by full time students, or by
students as term time accommodation, or are a
student hall of residence. However, dwellings
occupied by a mixture of full time students and
people who are not full time students will receive
a bill. It will be for the members of the household
to decide how to apportion the bill but the full
time students will not be liable for the council tax;
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It is still the ops responsibility.

He has to make and prove his claim.

In doing so his buddy may then get up and leave ergo a larger rent bill. Another discussion.

Thanks and goodnight. I have enjoyed it.
 
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