Who has to pay?
The liability for Council Tax is determined on a daily basis and the same state of affairs at the end of any day is assumed to have lasted all day i.e. 1st day of residence in a dwelling will be included in liability- but not the last.
There is a strict hierarchy of who is liable to pay the council tax in relation to any chargeable dwelling. The person liable for the council tax will be the person who ranks first on the following hierarchy in respect of the dwelling.
- Residents who have a freehold interest in the whole or any part of a dwelling.
- Residents who have a leasehold interest in the whole or any part of a dwelling.
- Residents who are statutory or secure tenants of the whole or any part of a dwelling.
- Residents who have a contractual licence to occupy the whole or any part of a dwelling.
- Residents.
- Owners.
An 'owner' means a person with a 'material interest' (freehold or leasehold granted > 6 months) in the whole or any part of a dwelling for which an inferior 'material interest' is not subject.
A "resident" means any individual who has attained the age of eighteen and has their "Sole or Main Residence" in the dwelling.
There are also certain prescribed classes of property for which the Owner is considered liable.
- Class A - A residential care home, nursing home, mental nursing home or hostel.
- Class B - A dwelling inhabited by a religious community where the principal occupation is one of prayer, contemplation, education and the relief of suffering.
- Class C - Houses in multiple occupation; dwellings originally constructed or adapted for occupation by persons who do not constitute a single household or where each person is a tenant of, or has a licence to occupy, part only of the dwelling.
- Class D - Properties occupied by domestic servants and their families for the purpose of their employment and which the employer does occupy from time to time.
- Class E - A dwelling used by a minister of religion as a residence and from which he performs the duties of his office. In the case of a Church of England Minister who is inhabitant and owner receives a stipend liability falls on the Diocesan Board of Finance.
- Class F - From 3 April 2000, council tax liability for accommodation provided under S95 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will fall on the owner rather than the resident asylum seeker.
