Council taxt - Single person living in a property discount

[web2005]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

[VK82]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

Claiming single person discount is not included in Public Funds, had you been seeking complete exemption(benefit) would have come under public funds.

[web2005]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

Claiming single person discount is not included in Public Funds, had you been seeking complete exemption(benefit) would have come under public funds.

Is there any source for this? I am not seeking complete exemption. Only getting discount that too offered by them.

[Xfer]

Don't be paranoid. It is a discount. You don't use pablic funds!

[VK82]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

Claiming single person discount is not included in Public Funds, had you been seeking complete exemption(benefit) would have come under public funds.

Is there any source for this? I am not seeking complete exemption. Only getting discount that too offered by them.

Hi Web, follow this link for details regarding council tax benefit
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAnd ... G_10018923
There are all sorts of eligiblity criteria checked by local council and you cant get it with limited leave to remain. What you are seeking now is a discount which is offered to all single tenants living alone.

[yasa]

it is just a discount.. and it doesnot come under benefit.

[nnj10]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

I will suggest you to write to UKBA and get the official response from them.

It seems a bit of GREY AREA to me, I would always verify with a official source before deciding anything in this matter.

[VK82]

Does anyone knows if claiming single person discount on council tax for living alone is included in public funds? I am living alone in a 3 bedroom house. My local council has advised me to claim single person discount on council tax. I explained my visa situation to the worker but still advised that this is not in public funds.

Can senior members please advise if it is safe for future ILR to claim single person discount on Council Tax?? Many thanks.

Claiming single person discount is not included in Public Funds, had you been seeking complete exemption(benefit) would have come under public funds.

Is there any source for this? I am not seeking complete exemption. Only getting discount that too offered by them.

Hi Web, this info should clarify: council tax discount and council tax benefit
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndComm ... G_10037422

[push]

Check the website of your council and you will find that council tax is calculated assuming two adults stay at a particular accommodation. In case there is just one adult staying at the house, council charges less - this effectively means that the single person staying at the home will be responsible for paying the amount that is due on him - In essence the person is not using any public funds in that he is paying whatever he owes to the Council.

Also see this document. For your satisfaction you can send a letter to your council clearly stating the conditions of your VISA and let them come back to you. You may also want to send an email to UKBA.

[need_a_tier1]

Be clear that the definition of 'Single' here is 'Not Married' and not 'Just 1 person'.

So, if you are married and you wife stays in the home country, and you occupy the property alone then you are NOT eligible for 'single person's discount'

I clarified this with my council.

You can get away with it for a while, but if they come to know later, they will charge retrospectively along with a penalty.

[push]

Be clear that the definition of 'Single' here is 'Not Married' and not 'Just 1 person'.

So, if you are married and you wife stays in the home country, and you occupy the property alone then you are NOT eligible for 'single person's discount'

I clarified this with my council.

You can get away with it for a while, but if they come to know later, they will charge retrospectively along with a penalty.

Not sure what is the source of your statement. Please see below from the City of Westminster website:

Council tax: An explanation
The Council Tax is a property-based charge with only one bill for each household. The amount payable will depend on the value band that the property is placed into by the Valuation Office Agency of the Inland Revenue. If you wish to find out the valuation band of a property, please contact the City Council or visit the Inland Revenue web site – www.voa.gov.uk
The charge is based on the assumption that two or more adults are resident in the property. However, where there is only one resident, a 25% discount applies and where no one is resident, a 10% discount applies. Some people e.g. full time students, or elderly people receiving care, are not counted when calculating the number of residents. Some properties, such as those left empty and substantially unfurnished will be exempt from Council Tax for up to six months.

It does not say anything about relationship of the two people/ or their individual marital status.

[VK82]

Be clear that the definition of 'Single' here is 'Not Married' and not 'Just 1 person'.

So, if you are married and you wife stays in the home country, and you occupy the property alone then you are NOT eligible for 'single person's discount'

I clarified this with my council.

You can get away with it for a while, but if they come to know later, they will charge retrospectively along with a penalty.

Well the question raised here is, does single person discount come under public fund?

[push]

Infact if you are married AND your partner stays with you even then you are eligible for council tax discount (100%) if you are on a student VISA (mind you, even Student VISA has a no recourse to public funds condition). See this:

Reasons why a resident can be non-counting for council tax purposes include the following:-
• Aged 17 or under
• Living in the property temporarily and who has a main home elsewhere.
• Defined as severely mentally impaired
• Full – time student
• Student nurse
• Carer
• Care worker
• Over 18 but someone else is still entitled to child benefit for them
• Held in detention
• Apprentices
• Main home is a hospital or nursing home (no intention to return to this address)
• School/college leavers who are under 20 and left school/college between 30th April and 1st November
• Foreign partner or dependant of a full time student

[VK82]

Infact if you are married AND your partner stays with you even then you are eligible for council tax discount (100%) if you are on a student VISA (mind you, even Student VISA has a no recourse to public funds condition). See this:

Reasons why a resident can be non-counting for council tax purposes include the following:-
• Aged 17 or under
• Living in the property temporarily and who has a main home elsewhere.
• Defined as severely mentally impaired
• Full – time student
• Student nurse
• Carer
• Care worker
• Over 18 but someone else is still entitled to child benefit for them
• Held in detention
• Apprentices
• Main home is a hospital or nursing home (no intention to return to this address)
• School/college leavers who are under 20 and left school/college between 30th April and 1st November
• Foreign partner or dependant of a full time student

Agree with you push

[push]

Be clear that the definition of 'Single' here is 'Not Married' and not 'Just 1 person'.

So, if you are married and you wife stays in the home country, and you occupy the property alone then you are NOT eligible for 'single person's discount'

I clarified this with my council.

You can get away with it for a while, but if they come to know later, they will charge retrospectively along with a penalty.

Well the question raised here is, does single person discount come under public fund?

I have already replied to this. If you want more clarification on the topic then there are some more threads on this forum. See this

[push]

Sorry, the above post is meant for the person who raised the question originally.

[web2005]

Many thanks guys. My questions was about public funds and now its clear that it is not considered under public funds.

Just to clear 'Single perosn's discount' is nothing to do with marital status. Its about 'Single (ONE) person living in a property '. I am married but my wife is not here yet. Coucil has advised me that I can get discount until she joins me in UK and start living in the same house.

[push]

Many thanks guys. My questions was about public funds and now its clear that it is not considered under public funds.

Just to clear 'Single perosn's discount' is nothing to do with marital status. Its about 'Single (ONE) person living in a property '. I am married but my wife is not here yet. Coucil has advised me that I can get discount until she joins me in UK and start living in the same house.

Yes. Please see my response above.