Liability to pay Council Tax is calculated on a daily basis and for the purposes of determining a liable day;
Whether any property is a Chargeable Dwelling
Which valuation band is shown in the Billing Authority's valuation list as applicable to any chargeable dwelling
The person liable to pay the Council Tax.
Or whether any amount of Council Tax is subject to a discount and if so the amount of the discount.
For all our purposes we assume that the state of affairs subsisting at the end of the day subsisted throughout the whole of the day.
Sections 2 & 6 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 outline the key legislative requirement for Council Tax.
Liability is based on a hierarchy (an order).
The person(s) highest in the hierarchy table will, subject to other conditions, be the person liable to pay the Council Tax.
The hierarchy is as follows:
RESIDENT who has a FREEHOLD INTEREST in the whole or part of the dwelling
RESIDENT who has a LEASEHOLD INTEREST in the whole or part of the dwelling and which is not inferior to another such interest held by another resident.
RESIDENT who is a STATUTORY or SECURE tenant of the whole or part of the dwelling.
RESIDENT who has a CONTRACTUAL LICENSE to occupy the whole or part of the dwelling.
RESIDENT of the dwelling.
Non Resident OWNER of the dwelling.
A resident is aged 18 or over and must have his/her sole or main residence in a dwelling
Where two or more residents have a similar interest in the dwelling they shall be Joint and Severally liable to pay the Council Tax.
Usually the resident owner will fall to be liable or if the owner does not live in the premises then the resident tenant or licensee will be liable.
Where there is no one in this category resident then it will fall on the residents even though they may be squatters.
As a last resort it will fall to the non-resident owner. Where a person falls to be disregarded under the Discount provisions this does not affect liability except in the case of Severely Mentally Impaired people who would otherwise be jointly and severally liable
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