Council Tax liability is governed by
a strict hierarchy for any particular dwelling. These rules are
strongly dependent on a person's residency status and identify a
number of categories into which people may fall. The liable person
is whoever comes within the first category to apply taking them in
order.
The categories are:-
1.
residents who have a freehold
interest in the whole or any part of the property;
2.
residents who have a leasehold
interest (including an assured shorthold tenancy) in the
whole or any part of the property (or the superior leasehold
interest if there are tenants with different leasehold
interest);
3.
residents who are statutory or secure
tenants of the whole or any part of the property;
4.
residents who have a contractual
licence to occupy the property or any part of it;
5.
other residents; or
6.
non-resident owners of the property.
Please note
that for the purposes of item 6 above, an “owner” in relation to
any dwelling is someone who holds a material interest in the whole
or any part of the dwelling. A “material interest” is further
defined as a freehold interest, or a leasehold interest which was
granted for a term of six months or more. It therefore follows that
in the case of a six month shorthold tenancy, for the purposes of
Council Tax, it is the tenant who will be classified as
the “owner”.
A resident is someone aged 18 or
over who lives in the dwelling as their only or main home. If the
description fits more than one person, then each person is jointly
and severally liable with the others, which means that any one of
them, or all of them, can be required to pay the full amount of
Council Tax payable. Each person is liable for the full proportion
of the Council Tax.
Joint and several liability also
applies to husbands and wives resident in the same dwelling and to
unmarried couples living as husband and wife. Some people are
excluded from joint liability such as 'students' and the 'severely
mentally impaired'.
In certain circumstances, set out
below, it is the owner of a property who is liable, not the people
who live there:
- Residential care homes, nursing homes and some hostels
- Residences that are occupied by more than one household (a
house of multiple occupation) and the residents pay rent separately
for different parts of the dwelling, or specially built or altered
so that people of different households can live in them
- Residences of Ministers of Religion
- Residences of religious communities
- Residences of domestic servants
- Residences of asylum seekers.
Students:
As from 1 April 2004, if you are a full time student resident in
a property, along with another adult, who is not a student and who
holds an identical interest in the property to you i.e. joint
owner, joint tenant or joint resident, you will no longer be liable
for the Council Tax. If, however, you hold a greater interest in
the property and the other resident is not a student, then you will
still be the person liable for the charge.
Prior to 1 April 2004 the normal
joint and several liability rules applied.
students.
Civil Partnership Act
2004:
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5 December
2005 and has implications for Council Tax legislation, for example
providing for (same sex) civil partners to be jointly and severally
liable for Council Tax in the same way as married couples.
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