council tax and ILR

[chionyeka82]

Greetings to everyone.
I am currently in a fix. I had my 2 years spouse visa and it's due for ILR in 5months time. my wife is a full time student and is exempted from council tax. she;s got her ILR and i am her dependant and work fulltime. we have not paid council tax for over 19months as she claims we are not meant to because of her student exemption. we have agrued over this and had to let her win. but i fear this may affect my ILR application in 5 months time. the tenancy agreement is in her name and we had my name taken off council tax so as not to pay for it. i don't want thing to jeopardise my ILR application. should i pay for the 19months council tax? or will it affect my application if i don't pay at all.
your advise is highly be appreciated.

_________________
Jay

[wpilr_nov12]

There is nothing wrong in coming clean and telling your council that you and your wife had knowingly deceived them to avoid paying council tax.

Non payment of council tax, and deception to achieve that could have severe consequences, and ILR refusal is just a smaller consequence.

[MP1982]

I was always with the idea that Council tax exempt is if you are under 'Student Visa' Category? Is she on that? But if you are the main applicant for the ILR it is always good to pay ur council tax and these go well as trustworthy Cohab dpcuments if your wife applying at the same time, well this is my view only..............

But as Guru suggested not paying council tax for an invalid reason is a serious matter. So these are the types of arguments you never let your wife win... well She may won the battle but not the war,

--------------------------
Info/Advice I provide is general in nature and shouldn't be used as a substitute for professional advice where necessary.

[cs95tdg]

I was always with the idea that Council tax exempt is if you are under 'Student Visa' Category?

It's not whether you are on a student visa that matters, its whether all members of the household are full time students. In order for a residence to be exempt from council tax on the grounds that you are fulltime student, all members of the residence must be I'm full time education.

[suis]

according to my understanding only students can stay together in one house, if any one who's not a student then all students including none student will have to pay the council tax,

i remember when i was a student by 2005 we lived on a 4 bed house and me and two other friends were student and our landloard put another none student , and coucil had realized this and send us a letter to pay council tax for every one, but we spoke to our landloard and got rid of that other none student, and we all 3 had to go to the civic centre and had a special interview with some case worker to remove the none student from our house house,

[wpilr_nov12]

The OP knew then what he was doing (removing himself from council roster), and why (to take advantage of zero council tax for his student wife).

[cs95tdg]

according to my understanding only students can stay together in one house, if any one who's not a student then all students including none student will have to pay the council tax,

Yes, precisely. That's why you find that in student house-shares, they tend not to have any non-student residents. Council tax is a major consideration; I too have been through that aspect of student life here so can vouch for it being true. The OP's wife and OP certainly appear to have known about this fact based on the information posted here.

[aruni4470]

The OP should have taken advantage of the 25% rebate as his wife is in full time education.

Never late, come clean with your council and offer to pay it now. It might cost you around £1500-£2000 (if they let you off without any fine) if you are living in a Band A or Band B, but worth the peace of mind.

[malikvip]

I think the information being given to you is NOT true, non EU spouse of non EU students are ALSO exempt from council tax.

Please see the link

http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_s ... il_tax.php

I think you dont have to pay the council tax asumed your are nonEU spouse of non EU student

[aruni4470]

I think the information being given to you is NOT true, non EU spouse of non EU students are ALSO exempt from council tax.

Please see the link

http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_s ... il_tax.php

I think you dont have to pay the council tax asumed your are nonEU spouse of non EU student

Would the OP's wife qualify as an International Student though? The exemption you mentioned is for spouses of International students only, not all non EU students. Would the OP's wife with ILR qualify to be an International Student?

Always good to get clarification from the council rather than coming to conclusions and regretting later.

[cs95tdg]

malikvip, thanks for the informative link. I wasn't aware of the recent change that appear to have been made. My bad.

However I agree with aruni4470 that as the OP's wife (who holds ILR), may not be an international student (which is another subject altogether), it would be best for the OP to get confirmation from his local council after reading the information available & getting any required info from his wife.

If it's found that you need to pay overdue council tax & a fine, they may be able to help arrange a payment schedule for you, i.e. opposed to having to pay the entire overdue to sum at once (if you are unable to make the payment in one go).

[Amber]

There is nothing wrong in coming clean and telling your council that you and your wife had knowingly deceived them to avoid paying council tax.

Non payment of council tax, and deception to achieve that could have severe consequences, and ILR refusal is just a smaller consequence.

You need to be careful about making wild accusations. The op's wife may not be trying to avoid ct. indeed, as the spouse has no recourse to public funds the household may still be exempt as per regulations proving the spouse is an international student I.e. is she paying international fees? You might have to appeal a ct decision if you are exempt as they find it difficult to understand the regs sometimes. Inform them that you are resident and if your spouse is an international student make sure they know that and that you have no recourse to public funds on your visa.

[ilrupdates]

hi fellows can you provide your opinion on the following matter of council tax as well please.

One flat consists of four rooms, and each room is rented by one tenant. the owner charges the rent inclusive all utility bills plus council tax bill. The council tax bill is on the name of owner and he has missed some payments as well in near past.

I am the tenant of one of those roams in that flat. I am going for my ILR application as a sole applicant (No dependent or partner).

My question is, am I responsible if the owner had not paid or does not pay the council tax?

[chionyeka82]

I sincerely do appreciate all your comments, helps and advises. point of correction, we did not remove my name from council to avoid payment. firstly my wife did it when i visited home for 6weeks, and her agurement was that I am her dependant and do not need to pay (reference council tax:a guide to your bill pg 9). This I read only last week and started making research on it till I came across this useful and life saving forum.
my wife has an ILR and is a fulltime student, not international. I have taken bold steps to correct this as advised to avoid unforeseeable problems. I have spoken to my council and agreed on monthly repayment plan.
I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to respond to me aid. I highly appreciate you all and hope everything goes well for all. thank you once again.

Jay

[cs95tdg]

hi fellows can you provide your opinion on the following matter of council tax as well please.

One flat consists of four rooms, and each room is rented by one tenant. the owner charges the rent inclusive all utility bills plus council tax bill. The council tax bill is on the name of owner and he has missed some payments as well in near past.

I am the tenant of one of those roams in that flat. I am going for my ILR application as a sole applicant (No dependent or partner).

My question is, am I responsible if the owner had not paid or does not pay the council tax?

What you describe is a houseshare, and if your landlord is listed as liable for council tax for the residence, then you wouldn't be responsible for his late/non payment of taxes. You may however want to get confirmation of this from your local council. May I ask how you know your landlord has missed some payments, as I presume you are not listed on the council tax bills at this time?

[aruni4470]

I sincerely do appreciate all your comments, helps and advises. point of correction, we did not remove my name from council to avoid payment. firstly my wife did it when i visited home for 6weeks, and her agurement was that I am her dependant and do not need to pay (reference council tax:a guide to your bill pg 9). This I read only last week and started making research on it till I came across this useful and life saving forum.
my wife has an ILR and is a fulltime student, not international. I have taken bold steps to correct this as advised to avoid unforeseeable problems. I have spoken to my council and agreed on monthly repayment plan.
I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to respond to me aid. I highly appreciate you all and hope everything goes well for all. thank you once again.

Jay

You have taken a good decision. All the best!!

[aruni4470]

hi fellows can you provide your opinion on the following matter of council tax as well please.

One flat consists of four rooms, and each room is rented by one tenant. the owner charges the rent inclusive all utility bills plus council tax bill. The council tax bill is on the name of owner and he has missed some payments as well in near past.

I am the tenant of one of those roams in that flat. I am going for my ILR application as a sole applicant (No dependent or partner).

My question is, am I responsible if the owner had not paid or does not pay the council tax?

Council Tax is usually paid by the people who actually live in the property –
for example owner-occupiers, or private or council tenants who have a
tenancy that allows them to occupy the whole of the property. The Council
Tax due on properties that are designated Houses in Multiple Occupation is
the responsibility of the owner of the property.
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/default ... %207_0.pdf

[ilrupdates]

hi fellows can you provide your opinion on the following matter of council tax as well please.

One flat consists of four rooms, and each room is rented by one tenant. the owner charges the rent inclusive all utility bills plus council tax bill. The council tax bill is on the name of owner and he has missed some payments as well in near past.

I am the tenant of one of those roams in that flat. I am going for my ILR application as a sole applicant (No dependent or partner).

My question is, am I responsible if the owner had not paid or does not pay the council tax?

What you describe is a houseshare, and if your landlord is listed as liable for council tax for the residence, then you wouldn't be responsible for his late/non payment of taxes. You may however want to get confirmation of this from your local council. May I ask how you know your landlord has missed some payments, as I presume you are not listed on the council tax bills at this time?

that is confirmed from the landlord that he delayed few of the monthly payments. The bill is on his name definitely but I am also registered as a tenant on this shared property. I think I will be al rite as I have got tenancy agreement which includes all the bills plus council tax bill. what do you think?

[cs95tdg]

hi fellows can you provide your opinion on the following matter of council tax as well please.

One flat consists of four rooms, and each room is rented by one tenant. the owner charges the rent inclusive all utility bills plus council tax bill. The council tax bill is on the name of owner and he has missed some payments as well in near past.

I am the tenant of one of those roams in that flat. I am going for my ILR application as a sole applicant (No dependent or partner).

My question is, am I responsible if the owner had not paid or does not pay the council tax?

What you describe is a houseshare, and if your landlord is listed as liable for council tax for the residence, then you wouldn't be responsible for his late/non payment of taxes. You may however want to get confirmation of this from your local council. May I ask how you know your landlord has missed some payments, as I presume you are not listed on the council tax bills at this time?

that is confirmed from the landlord that he delayed few of the monthly payments. The bill is on his name definitely but I am also registered as a tenant on this shared property. I think I will be al rite as I have got tenancy agreement which includes all the bills plus council tax bill. what do you think?

Yes, as stated in my previous response I suspect you will be fine. I suggested getting confirmation from your local council, because my experience with houseshare council tax matters is from my student days when I was working. I.e. so this information may be out-of-date, hence it would always be better to check the current stance at your local council website (or call them) to verify liability in a shared household such as yours.

[jeyanthzj]

chionyeka82
I read your original post and here is the the high court judgement
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Adm ... /1200.html
confirming that since you are the non-British spouse of a full time student, you are exempt from paying the council tax. In summary if the only two adults living in the property are you and your full time student wife then the household is exempt from council tax.
As long as you (the non student/non British spouse) have either the 'no recourse to public funds' or' not permitted to work' in you visa then you are exempt.
In your case I believe although you are in full time employment, you have no recourse to public funds, so you can be exempt from council tax.
There is no differentiation between an international or home student for council tax purpose.
If the council would not refund you any money that you have started as repayment then show them the judgement.
Good luck.

Jey