Council tax

[ontherav]

Sorry in advance if this is a silly question.

We have sold our house and are moving out in two weeks - we informed the council tax office of this and they said the next direct debit payment is after we move out and to cancel our next payment.

Today we have received a letter saying the amount due between now and March is £800 and that we will be billed a higher than usual payment over the next 3 months.

I'm confused. Are we still liable to pay the full year even though we won't own the property?

We are moving in with family and won't have a new property if that makes any difference

I moved in jan, same council tax area, new place is in a higher band. Mine was pro-rated fto the date leaving in the old property and a new bill issued from the date started in the new property. All neat and tidy like

What they should do is pro-rata your council tax to the date you finish in the property. You shouldnt have to pay the full year. As you are moving in with family, no further bill should be liable as its per house.

I would call them and sort it.

Hope this helps

No, you will not be liable for C Tax from the day after the property is sold. In your position I would WRITE to C Tax section at your LA with proof of sale and the date once it has occurred. If you have been paying a tenth of the annual bill each month you should be due a refund for the days you have over-paid.

Ignore the letter from the council, and please make sure you arrange for mail-forwarding in case they get their wires crossed again and/or you don’t receive your refund cheque.

Thanks both.

I thought it didn't seem right and I've got myself all in fluster. I'm waiting for a call back to hopefully get it sorted.

Thanks for the tip on the mail - I already have the redirection set up so hopefully won't miss any future correspondence

Did the letter state 'final bill's or 'closing account's or similar? Any chance it was a letter advising you that your DD didn't through.

The final bill will usually show the billing period from 01.04.2020 to the day before your completion date. It is calculated up to midnight of the day before your final day. Our council generally won't process moving forms before the moving out date.

Nope - it's the period after I've moved out which I found strange.

All of our direct debits are up to date.

We spoke to them on the phone, they said it's because they got a notification from the bank to say we cancelled our next DD (which is due after we have handed our keys over).

They've told us to ignore and a final bill will be generated when we've gone. Which I expect to say we owe nothing!