‘Breathing Space’ is the name of the new government initiative to assist those who have debts to be able to discuss those debts with a debt management agency and, where appropriate, enter a debt management scheme for those debts. In June 2019 the government, having previously issued a consultation document, published an outline plan of […]

The situation regarding the Severely Mentally Impaired disregard and the backdating of applications has long been a point of dispute with local authorities, none less so than being ‘entitled to’ a qualifying state benefit. A recent High Court case has clarified this point. What does ‘entitled to’ mean For the purposes of the Severely Mentally […]

Court of Appeal decision The Court of Appeal recently heard, on appeal from the Crown Court, an interesting case on the legal responsibility of a party to inform the council that they were liable for the council tax charge on a property. In this particular case it was alleged that the defendant had committed fraud […]

Since April 2013 Local Authorities in England have been given delegated powers under Section 11B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to increase Council Tax on a local level. These powers allow them to increase Council Tax by adding up to 50% to the Council Tax charge on some long-term empty properties. This is […]

Council Tax billing, collection and enforcement Each year a Council Tax charge is levied for each residential property. This amount is set by the Local Authority in which the property stands. The owner of the property, or the tenant, will be issued with a Demand Notice – they are the ‘liable person’. The Demand Notice […]

Occupancy and Sole or main residence The calculation of Council Tax requires that a decision be made in respect of the occupiers ‘sole or main residence‘ and whether the property is occupied or unoccupied. A person is regarded as being resident in the property where their ‘sole or main residence’ is to be found but […]

The Ministry of Justice have confirmed that they have inadvertently been overcharging Local Authorities in respect of the application fee charge for a Liability Order since 2013/14. Where a Local Authority make an application for a Council Tax Liability Order under the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 the Local Authority must pay an […]

A common worry when dealing with Council Tax is whether or not Council Tax payments or arrears can affect your credit rating. Does a late or missing payment affect your credit rating ? At present there is no legislation in England and Wales which allows a Local Authority to report missed or late Council Tax […]

What if my property has been banded ? Finding the banding of a property for Council Tax purposes is a relatively easy thing to do – the information is publicly available so you can find it easily at : England and Wales Scotland Once you know the banding of a property then checking the website […]