Out of country

[tiabella]

Is a person liable to pay council tax if they have been out the country for 4 years.

[Curlyben]

Re: Out of country

They are NOT liable for the payments for the time they where out of the country.
In fact you must be in the same area for six+ months for council tax payments to apply,
So if you are continually moving around, you wouldn't need to pay, assuming you do NOT actual own any property.

Council tax

[tiabella]

Re: Out of country

Thankyou for the information. I went to spain to look after a friend who had been in an accident and was in a coma for 4 months when he came out of the coma it was like he had a stroke, so i stayed to help him because he couldn't do anything for himself. I only returned to England a couple of times between 2006 to 2010 for weekly periods. I returned to England in october 2010 and now they are charging me council tax for 4years. So do you think they can charge me.

[tiabella]

Re: Out of country

I went to spain in 2006 to look after my friend who had been in an accident and was in a coma for 4 months and when he came out it was like he had a stroke so i stayed to help him, returning to England only a couple of times for weekly periods. I returned to England in oct 2010, but they are charging me for the 4 yrs. I have to go to court on wed to say if i am liable, so do you think this is wrong. thankyou

[Swingletree]

Re: Out of country

Do you own a property in the UK???

[tiabella]

Re: Out of country

I do not own the property in england while i was out the country, so am i liable for the council tax?

[Swingletree]

Re: Out of country

I do not own the property in england while i was out the country, so am i liable for the council tax?

From way that you say then you do not owe CT but did you own the property in England before you left?

You will need to be sure of the facts. Why not contact the CT dept of your local council and see why they think you own CT. Please report back your finding and we can be more specific with our replies.

Have the local Council sent you a Bill, or a Reminder notice or Summons or Liability Order or just a letter.

[tiabella]

Re: Out of country

I did not own the property I was living in, I was privately renting and I have returned to the property where I have recieved bills for the 4 years, I have now been summons to court on wed to say wether I am liable. I have recieved another reply from someone on the forum who states you have to be in an area for 6 months plus to be liable to pay council tax or if you own the property, which I didn't. Do you know this to be true? thanks

[bluebottle]

Re: Out of country

Did your landlord rent the property to anyone else whilst you were in Spain? If so, either they or the landlord are liable. If you continued to pay rent to the landlord, the local authority may have taken it you were still resident and, therefore, liable.

Take Swingletree's advice and ask the local authority for an explanation. I would also politely ask them to stop behaving like idiots and give you the opportunity to pay anything you may owe. A court will be looking to see if the local authority have acted reasonably in the circumstances. If not, the court may well rule the local authority has acted unreasonably and throw the case back in their faces and tell them to stop behaving like idiots. It does happen.

Bluebottle

[tiabella]

Re: Out of country

Did your landlord rent the property to anyone else whilst you were in Spain? If so, either they or the landlord are liable. If you continued to pay rent to the landlord, the local authority may have taken it you were still resident and, therefore, liable.

Take Swingletree's advice and ask the local authority for an explanation. I would also politely ask them to stop behaving like idiots and give you the opportunity to pay anything you may owe. A court will be looking to see if the local authority have acted reasonably in the circumstances. If not, the court may well rule the local authority has acted unreasonably and throw the case back in their faces and tell them to stop behaving like idiots. It does happen.

Bluebottle

I was paying rent for this period but the council are aware I have been out of the country for this period.

[Swingletree]

Re: Out of country

I was paying rent for this period but the council are aware I have been out of the country for this period.

Who is normally responsible for your part the CT on the property, the Landlord or yourself?

My guess is if the Summons is addressed to you then you are responsible for CT.

However if the Landlord has handed you a Notice of Summons with their name on it then he is responsible and is passing it to you in the hope they will be relieved of the Bill.

In the rules and regulations covering CT, there is only a short time frame when the property is formally empty and CT is not payable. What throws this out of the issue here is that you say in an answer above, you returned to the UK for short times and if you stayed in this room/property the council will not see this property as 'empty' and CT will be payable.

So the first question must be, who normally pays the CT element of your room/property, you or the Landlord????