Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Council Tax Rebate Case

A landmark case concerning local authorities’ obligations when carrying out public consultations will be heard by the Supreme Court. Believed to be the first of its kind, the case concerns Haringey Council's implementation of last April's council tax rebate system - which led to many residents paying council tax for the first time. Law firm Irwin Mitchell, which is representing a single mother struggling with the new payments, claims the council's consultation was unlawful and didn't provide enough information for people to make an informed decision about the changes. Read more on 24dash.

Councils to Get Full Flexibility on Council Tax Discounts

A letter written to Councils at the end of July apparently indicates the government's intention to offer councils complete flexiblity over the level of discounts for empty homes and periods of time for which they could apply.

The letter states:

    In particular authorities sought clarification on the flexibility to vary the level of discount over time (for example, allowing a discount to be applied for a period [of] a few months to benefit short-term empty homes, rather than removing it completely). Ministers have carefully considered these representations. In keeping with the spirit of the proposed reforms, the Government intends to allow councils complete discretion over the level of council tax discount and the time-period for which it may apply to an empty home.

This would seem to allow for example a one week 100% discount to avoid billing trivial amounts, It is less clear whether different levels of discount could be applied for different time-periods on a sliding scale, e.g. from 100% to 50% to 0% (the letter refers to "the time-period" in the singular).  Read more on the Empty Homes Network website.

Potential Council Tax Discount on Empty Homes

The CLG have issued Council Tax Information Letter 2/2012 on the topic of council tax discount on empty homes.  Briefly, the Government intends to allow councils complete discretion over the level of Council Tax discount and the time-period for which it may apply to an empty home. Download a copy of the letter from the CLG website.

Landlords Face Double Tax Whammy on Empty Homes – Pickles

Communities secretary Eric Pickles plans to give local authorities the power to scrap council tax discounts on empty homes and slap extra charges on landlords if their properties have been vacant for more than two years. They are part of 'discretionary' measures, outlined in a consultation, which aims to help hard-working families and pensioners with their council tax bills. If the 'discretionary' measures - which also includes scrapping council tax relief for second home owners - are taken up, the theory is that councils could cut tax bills for hard-working families. The measures sit alongside the two-year freeze on council tax and cuts to the amount of cash local authorities can hand out for help with council tax bills. Download a copy of the consultation document from the CLG website.