Query regarding council tax bill based on retrospective banding change (Scotland)

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Hi

I had a question - I am being charged a bill for tax from Glasgow city council. I moved out of the property in question in 2019, at which point they had advised me there was 0 liability left in terms of taxes. So I queried what the bill is about, and they told me it is for a retrospective banding change (increase) from an assessment in 2024. Is the council within its rights to issue a backdated bill in this way?

Forgot to add, this was a property I was renting, not one I own.

I would get this moved to Property/DIY.

I think it is quite unlikely. I think the landlord as the homeowner is more likely to be liable.

I'd have thought so too.

If a mod could move the thread that'd be helpful.

They can't take you to court for it once the "debt" (if there is any enforcable debt) is more than 6 years old - how far back are they attempting to backdate it? If you write back with enough queries but without acknowledging the debt, it may get to the 6 year anniversary of you leaving the place by the time they get around to issuing court proceedings.

If your landlord made major improvements to the place before letting it to you and if he didn't tell the council he'd done so then you were billed too little. If you get to the point that you can't stall any longer and have to acknowledge the debt, say you'll only pay that portion which is less than 6 years old and can only afford to pay a maximum of £5 per month. It's not your fault and you never set out to deceive so shouldn't be put into financial hardship by this.

Thanks. I might make use of some of the free legal advice services I have access to just to determine if they have any lawful basis here, as it really does come across as very unfair. They are trying to backdate for 2016-2019.

2016-17 is more than 6 years ago so beyond statute of limitations.

But I don't think you can get round it by stalling if they are continuing to pursue the debt.

It does seem unfair. Could CAB help?

I mean I don't think you can get round the more recent part of it by stalling, if it turns out that what they are doing is legal

Is the increase in banding due to improvements? In which case I would ask them to prove the improvements were made before or during the time you were there, and why it has taken them so long to query this despite telling you you owed nothing in 2019 when you left.

It may be different in Scotland, but here (Southern England) the banding is only changed when ownership changes (if it's been extended) and isn't backdated.

@Dyatlovovpass Any reduction would be good assuming they are pursuing a lawful debt, so thanks for the tip.
@Ariela I've no idea what the basis was as they've simply provided me contact details for the assessor to follow it up if I want to. It's also taken them around 4 months to clarify the whole situation. I know there was a change in ownership because my old landlord sold up but that was around early 2020, so well before this new 'assessment'. All I do know is during my tenancy, the landlord made 0 physical changes to the property.

Council tax bands aren't just changed when properties change hands, that's just one of the reasons a review of a band can happen. It can also be because the current person asked for a review, or a review is done on a neighbouring property which results in what they call a consequential change.

Basically the change in your case will most likely have been made because the assessor became aware of information showing the banding was incorrect from the start, hence it has been backdated.

Although you've been asked to pay it i'd write to them and say they need to be writing it off as it's retrospective, you paid in full when you lived there and it's unreasonable to pursue the increased amount so many years later.

Also check that any debt recover advice you get is relating to Scottish law, you'll mostly get people who live in England on here.

I've contacted the legal helpline I have via my insurer and they've put me in touch with a Scottish solicitor to advise on it so hopefully it'll shed some light. I'll also get in touch with the local CAB just to see if they have any further info that can help. Very strange situation, and again I wouldn't have thought what the council is doing here is correct!

Hi There,

Wondering if you had any joy here? We've just received a £2.5k retrospective bill from East Dunbartonshire - as they have gone back and changed our council tax bill from when we lived there.

We were fully paid up, but they've gone back to 2019 to change our banding and are now asking for the difference for those four years...

All seems like it shouldn't be legal, but struggling to find anything to help me justify that!

TIA

Hi

Yes, it was an error by the assessor, so the council ended up cancelling the supposed charge. I'd suggest contacting the assessor directly as the council basically just acts on their recommendation. I had to raise a complaint to get it resolved but it was ultimately through them contacting the assessor to query the matter that the error was identified.