Council Tax No 7 - Single Person Relief (SPR) No 2 Discount Disregards

SPR applies to one adult residing in a dwelling. In council tax law you might ask the question: "When are more than one person equal to one person?" It is an odd question with many answers - say over 20!

The following examples of "discount disregards"are not counted when assessing occupation for SPR:

• a minor (under 18 years);
• an adult whose main residence is not the dwelling - this has been the subject of case law;
• several kinds of student, eg college or university students living at home or in digs (ie the CT payers home);
• certain trainees, such as student nurses or apprentices;
• certain non-permanent residents, eg guests staying with the taxpayer when they are on holiday;
• hospital patients and those in care, eg in care homes.

Jaefoo-Environmental-Taxation: Landfill Tax - Waste from Contaminated Land -End o...

Jaefoo-Environmental-Taxation: Landfill Tax - Waste from Contaminated Land -End o...: The date - 31 March 2012 - is creeping closer. It is the day for the end of the exemption from landfill tax for waste from registered con...

Council Tax No 6 - Single Person Relief (SPR) No1

The Local Government Finance Act 1992 provides as a general rule that when two (or more) adult persons occupy a dwlling the result will be that the council tax payer pays the full amout of tax for the dwelling's council tax band.

When only one adult person occupies the dwelling relief is given by a 25 percent reduction ( a discount) in the amount of council tax to be paid. This may result from::

• being a one person household;
• other residents have left to reside elsewhere;
• a spouse has died;
• a marriage has ended and one peson leaves the dwelling;
• one spouse is away working elsewhere.

In most cases the individual remaining must claim the SPR. However, where a spouse dies the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages notifies the charging authority. The charging authority then makes the council tax adjustments to reflect the SPR.
[Note: A family's children, ie minors (under 18 years), and most students are not treated as residing in the dwelling for council tax purposes.]

The law of council tax is more complicate than I have described above. For instance case law has established that a person required to live eslewhere may be regareded as resident so the SRP is lost!

Council Tax No 5 Consultation on Residential Reliefs

The government is consulting on reform of "technical" aspects of council tax - see

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/20192051.pdf

Will follow-up this post with more details. Brief reading suggests that some of those with vacant dwellings will be subject to more council tax!