Responsibility for Council Tax payments

Responsibility for paying Council Tax

The person highest on the following list is normally responsible for paying the bill:

1. Resident owner (18 years of age or over, applies even if the person is working away from home)
2. Resident tenant
3. Resident sub-tenant
4. Any other resident
5. Non-resident owner (normally when the property is unoccupied)

Joint owners or tenants

If there are joint owners or joint tenants who are liable for Council Tax, full payment can be made by one of them.

Couples living together

Where couples live together, each partner is liable for the other's Council Tax debts. We can insist on payment of the full amount from either partner for the period they lived together in the same home.

Special circumstances

There are different rules affecting those who are classed as:

• severely mentally impaired
• students

If you need additional information, contact our Welfare Support team.

Refunds

If you think you have ovepaid your Council Tax or your Council Tax bill shows a credit, you can request that a Council Tax credit balance be refunded to you. Contact the Operations Team and provide the following information:

• Council Tax account number
• property address with the credit balance
• your bank sort code, account number and account name for the refund to be paid

We will only issue a refund where you do not have any other arrears outstanding. If you have paid too much but have a balance outstanding for a different financial year or another address, we will automatically apply the amount overpaid to the outstanding balance.

We will carry out checks to ensure you do not have Council Tax arrears or money due to other Council departments before we approve a refund. We may need to seek permission from joint liable parties before we issue a refund.

Owners

In certain circumstances, an owner may have to pay Council Tax for properties they do not always live in, for instance:

• a property owner between tenancies
• a landlord for a domestic home of multiple occupancy, that is, where the occupants do not constitute a family and each occupier is entitled to use only part of the flat or house
• a home which is the residence of a minister of religion, from which they perform their duties of office (paid by the organisation that pays the minister's salary)
• school boarding accommodation
• a home occupied by a religious community
• a home where a domestic servant has their sole or main residence to carry out their employment within the property, and where the home is occupied from time to time by the servant's employer
• a home which constitutes all or part of a residential care home, nursing home, private hospital or hostel
• a home occupied by asylum seekers who appear to be destitute. They will receive accommodation and other essential living needs under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and will not be eligible for benefits including Council Tax Benefit. The Regulations provide that the Council Tax liability for any accommodation provided under section 95 will fall on the owner of the property

Landlords

Landlords may be liable for Council Tax when:

• a property is between tenancies
• the property is unoccupied and no tenant is liable
• the property is let as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

Council Tax liability falls on the owner (usually the landlord) when:

• the property is a domestic home of multiple occupancy
• the occupants do not constitute a family
• each occupier is entitled to use only part of the flat or house