Council tax arrears

[lgfa92]

Re: Council tax arrears

In respect of payments - you need to separate the arguments regarding any council tax benefit/support and council tax. A dispute over any council tax benefit/support does not prevent the local authority from taking or continuing any action whilst any other queries are being resolved.

As far as council tax collection is concerned it doesn't matter how the monies came about to be due - they're either due or they're not (i.e paid in full or otherwise discharged), there is no in-between. That being said , the local authority may be willing to allow some discretion in the matter if they are aware of the full background situation.

Craig

[lgfa92]

Re: Council tax arrears

post 5

Ta- I was just quickly scanning.

If he can qualify as Severely Mentally Impaired (SMI) then he could not be held jointly liable for any time he qualifies as SMI and the sister was resident. She would be liable with a 25% reduction for this. Possibly a further 25% reduction if she could qualify as a carer.

For any period where he could qualify as SMI and he was the sole occupier then a Class U exemption applies,

Craig

[cara99]

Re: Council tax arrears

I too would like to more about these uncashed checks.

What is your sister's financial situation now and what has it been over the years she has been living with her brother?

FWIW, my instinct is that they (brother and sister) are liable for whatever the council tax would have been if the correct information had been given to the council over the years. Without knowing what your sister's fiannces have been, there is no way of saying if she would have been entitled to Council Tax Benefit - later repalced by Council Tax Support.

You can argue that they should be given a reasonable amount of time to pay this because your brother acted in good faith. (Having said this, if your sister was earning, why did it not occur to her that she should be paying council tax?)

In fairness to our local authority, they have agreed to reduced payments in order to repay over time. My sister, who is earning and this was stated on the application, was paying a reduced rate. Again, as the application was filled in fully and frankly, we did not consider the amount to be incorrect. There would still be a small reduction, I believe, for future payments.