Council Tax Liability - Who Should Pay the Bill?

Who is liable for Council Tax?

The person liable for Council Tax is whoever comes first in the list below:

• Resident(s) who have a freehold interest i.e. the person living in the property is also the owner of that property
• Residents who have a leasehold interest
• Residents who are statutory or secure tenants
• Residents who have a contractual licence to occupy
• Residents e.g. Squatters or those with no legal right to occupy
• Owners

What is a 'Resident' and an 'Owner'?

Resident: Any individual aged eighteen or over who has their sole or main residence (see definition of this below) in the dwelling.

Owner: A person who has an interest in the whole or any part of the dwelling. An interest is a freehold interest or leasehold granted for six months or more.

Examples of the above are:

• Free holders
• Long lease holders
• Assured and assured short hold tenants whose tenancies were granted for at least six months
  Housing association and council tenants whose tenancies were granted for at least six months

Can more than one person be liable?

All persons who have an equal interest in the dwelling will be jointly liable. This applies to the spouse or civil partner of the liable person resident in the same dwelling. It also applies to married or unmarried couples living together.

NB Students who live in shared accommodation are normally exempt from Council Tax charges altogether, however difficulties can arise if one (or more) of the residents are no longer students. Please email revenues@nwleicestershire.gov.uk or call 01530 454499 for details.

What is Sole or Main Residence?

Sole or main residence is a term used to describe the property that is classed as your home, that is, the address that you are deemed to be 'resident' at for Council Tax purposes.

In many cases, you will only have one home so this is not a problem. However, if you have more than one home, or work away from home, several factors must be taken into account in order to decide which address should be classed as your sole or main residence.

If there is a query over your place of residence we will consider the following facts.

Time spent at or away from the property:

Absence from the home does not necessarily mean that it is not your main residence (for example if you work away but do not have a property elsewhere). However, we will need to know the time you spend at and away from the property concerned and also where your spouse/partner and children (if any) spend most of their time.

Legal Interest:

We will need to know your 'legal interest' in the property, for example do you own it, lease it or rent it? We will also need to know your legal interest (if any) for where you spend the rest of your time. Additionally, we will ask whether you are already paying Council Tax at another address.

Family Ties:

We will ask where you are registered for voting, doctors, dentist etc. We will also take into account where your children (if any) go to school, whether you have membership of local recreation facilities and sports clubs etc. and where you (and any spouse or partner) work.

Other Factors:

There are other important questions that we will ask you -

• Where do you consider your main home to be?
• Where do you keep the majority of your possessions?
• Is the absence from the property temporary?
• Do you have a clear intention to return to one particular property?

This may seem like a lot of questions to ask, but determining your sole or main residence is not a simple process and each case will be judged on its own merits. So, the more information you provide, the easier it will be for us to make our decision.

If you have any queries, or would like to know more about sole or main residence, please contact us. Our contact details are shown below.