after completing my form to tell the council i’ve moved so i can pay council tax, i recorded my housemate as being the other tenant, i was met with frustration and anger as my housemate likens council tax to a tv license – i.e he wants to ignore the problem and hopes it never comes up and he’s never found out.
i’m going to set up my direct debit despite his wishes as i’ve researched the consequences of being caught and know there’s a risk of fines, court summons and paying the whole years worth of tax in one go.
i know i’ve done the right thing and realise he does not agree with me but i wonder what the impact would be if he gets caught? is being caught likely? and despite being in a relationship with him will i be safe from prosecution?
weirdly odd and specific so not expecting any concrete answers or solutions, just very anxious and not feeling reassured by his nonchalance so perhaps someone may have some experience w this <3
14 comments
Tell him to grow up and be responsible. He’s wasting everyone’s time including himself when court summons start coming.
Council tax is per household there is a single person discount but you said two people. You are jointly liable.to pay the sum as a household. Even if you say he is not there it save 25%
You will get caught it’s not like you can hide the house like you can a TV. Council tax has proper punishment held over it too
Lastly morally council tax empties you bins, educates the next generation, looks after the elderly or disabled with care, maintains the local roads and much more.
(Edit above assumes you house share on joint agreement, if you have separate locking doors and separate rental agreements then you may be able to file seperatly.)
If you setup a direct debit it’ll be for the entire amount so there’s no risk to him.
Tv License is very different to Council Tax, mainly that TV License is actually very easy to get away with not paying as long as you don’t let them into your home and don’t ever admit to watching any live TV or watching any BBC Iplayer. The majority of people caught without a TV License are those that don’t follow the basic rules to effectively safely avoid paying it.
Council Tax is definitely not something to mess with at all, anyone named on the tenancy will be liable for Council Tax, and the home will obviously be registered with the council. So they’ll just simply see that a particular home isn’t paying their council tax, and investigate why. There is no way to safely avoid paying council tax in your circumstances. If he doesn’t pay his fair share, they’ll just go after you to make up the difference.
Basically, any bill that can have multiple people’s names on it, for example a loan, credit card, council tax etc… Whomevers name is on the bill is liable for all of the amount, even if they’ve already paid their fair share.
Your housemate being on the tenancy would mean the council have full legal right to chase anybody who is on that tenancy agreement for the entire amount.
To summarise, tell him this isn’t a choice and he has to pay. There is no ifs and buts. If he doesn’t, he’s leaving you open to be liable for his debt which would make him a very bad friend if he’s willing to do that to you.
If it escalates, if they find him:
Reminder 1 – You’ve missed an installment
Reminder 2 – You’ve missed an installment
Final Notice – You have lost the right to installments, come to an arrangement.
Summonses (Less serious than it sounds) – Billing Auothrity goes to court and adds costs such that they have authority for further enforcement action.
Attachment of Earnings/Benefit – Billing Authority will request their employer makes deductions from their pay to settle debt. Employer is legally obligated to do so. Same principles for attachment of benefit, will have deductions out of UC.
Bailiffs – Everything else has failed.
Prison – added only because its an astronomically unlikely scenario but it has officially happened, its just the sheer means to end in this scenario make it extremely unlikely.
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So he can view it like a TV license if he wants, but unlike the TV license, he will be surprised when ignoring it results in them going over his head instead.
Tell him to grow up and take some responsibility. Apart from the moral reasons to pay for services he’s consuming, he *will* be found out. I’ve known people genuinely go to court for doing exactly what he’s doing. Pay massive fines.
Tax evasion (for you and I) is looked on very, very grimly by the authorities. It absolutely will not just go away.
I’m not an expert but as somebody jointly living in the property you would probably get wrapped up in it. Perhaps you might be on the hook as well if you’ve only paid the single rate, which you would if they don’t know there’s another person there.
IANAL so maybe check with Citizen’s Advice for actual solid facts.
I’ve known people try to dodge paying and they always get caught- even if they’ve moved and it’s several years later.
They also have the power to literally just take it straight out of your wages too so it’s not like a normal debt collector who you can try to ignore and hope they leave you alone…
If unpaid, you’d both be liable so it’s best to just pay it and keep on him to pay you back
I’m pretty sure the household is charged not individuals (unless the property is subdivided), so you’re probably paying for his slice already
Your flat mate can always move out, it’s a free country.
The council will get their payment, my mum was an idiot and didn’t pay it for a while and she ended up in court with the court putting an attachment of earnings on my dads wages so it was paid.
You can rarely get out of paying it, they do and will come after anyone not paying it
Sounds like you’ve made yourself the liable person, so you’d be expected to pay the entire council tax then get whatever share you’re owed from your housemates.
Edit: Scratch that, I got the rules confused. If you and your housemates are both tenants then you are both “jointly and severally liable”, meaning the council can choose who they demand pays up.
If one of you is a resident tenant and the other isn’t, the tenant is liable.
When I was younger I used to move around a fair bit so never bothered paying council tax and it was easy to get away with it these days I’m more settled so I pay it, begrudgingly
wasn’t expecting this many useful thoughtful answers ! thank u so much guys. i’ve contacted citizens advice for my area and will try to arrange it so we are separate and i’m not liable and won’t have to pay for his mistakes before they inevitably happen.
I would move out asap tbh. If your housemate is going to shirk financial responsibility for the council tax risking both of you then he’s not somebody worth living with. And it won’t just be council tax. It will be things like energy bills, consumables like cleaning products, toilet rolls, food, rent even. Consider that you’ve just moved with Jeremy from peep show. He will be a drain on your own personal finances.