A reminder notice is now an essential requirement of the legislation.
It is served on the person against whom an application for a liability order will be made.
The reminder is issued in addition to a demand and it must state all of the sums that will be subject of that application
Where no payment has been received on a instalment then a reminder notice can be issued under Regulation 23 Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992
All unpaid instalments must then be paid within 7 working days of the date of issue or else the remaining balance for the year will be payable.
After a further 7 days an application for a Liability Order for the total remaining balance can be made.
If 2 reminders are required during the year then the full amount will become liable in the event that a third reminder is due.
The second reminder must indicate this.
A reminder or final notice (Reg 33) would only be issued if at the point of the third default the amount has changed from the amount shown as totally outstanding on the second reminder.
This Regulation 33 notice would also be served for other non statutory agreements.
In each case 7 days is given before application is made to the Magistrates for a liability order.
You may also wish to be aware of the High Court case of Regentford Ltd v Thanet District Council [2004] EWCH 246 Admin which deals with whether an authority can reclaim council tax over 6 years after it becomes due.
In that case a demand notice in respect of council tax for the year 1996-7 was not served until 2 October 2002. It was held that the taxpayer was only under a duty to pay from the date of service of the notice, before that he was liable to pay but under no duty. So the authority could recover the council tax. The clock only started ticking for limitation purposes from the date of service of the notice.
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