Who has to pay Council Tax

Occupied property

How can I tell who has to pay?

There is only one Council Tax bill for each home. To work out who pays for your home, look at the list below. When you reach the first description that applies to someone in your home, they are responsible for the bill. They are known as the 'liable person'.

A resident freeholder (for owner-occupied property, this will be the owner)
A resident leaseholder
A resident with a statutory or secure tenancy
A resident licensee
A resident
The non-resident owner

A 'resident' is a person of 18 years or over who lives in the home as their only or main home.

What if there is more than one liable person?

People who are joint owners or joint tenants are jointly liable for the one Council Tax charge for that property. The husband or wife of the Council Tax payer is also jointly responsible for paying the bill. This also applies to an unmarried couple living together as husband and wife and to couples living together in a civil partnership. Special rules apply where one of the liable people is severely mentally impaired, a student, a student nurse, an apprentice or a youth training trainee.

Are the residents always liable?

In some special cases the owner, not the residents, has to pay the Council Tax. These cases are:

Properties occupied by more than one household, where the households share facilities, such as cooking or washing
Residential care homes, nursing homes (such as hospices), mental nursing homes or certain types of hostels providing a high level of care
Religious communities such as a monasteries or convents
Properties which are not the owner's main home, but which are the main home of a person or people who the owner employs in domestic service
Vicarage and other houses where a minister of religion lives and works
Properties occupied by asylum seekers

If you live in one of these homes where the owner is liable, you do not have to pay the Council Tax. If your landlord is the liable person, they may ask you to pay something towards the bill. This depends on the terms of your agreement with them.

Unoccupied property

Unoccupied properties are normally charged 100% of the full charge and the owner is usually the person liable to pay the charge. Exemptions do apply in some circumstances.

Recovery

Failure to pay your Council Tax could result in legal action being taken and therefore if you are struggling to pay early contact is important to avoid unnecessary recovery action being taken.

Our team is there to assist you and can be contacted by:

email: revenue.services@pembrokeshire.gov.uk

phone: 01437 764551 and selecting the relevant option.

They can offer advice and enter into a payment agreement (but cannot reduce the amount you are due to pay).

The team can also help if you or someone you know is vulnerable.

This can include people who have:

Physical, mental or learning difficulties
Long standing health conditions or a terminal diagnosis
Experienced a significant change in circumstances, such as divorce or bereavement
Severe financial difficulties

While being vulnerable does not remove your legal obligation to pay, we can temporarily take certain actions to mitigate your immediate circumstances. This will be in place until a more long-term solution is resolved.

We will:

Note on your account that you may be vulnerable and unable to manage your affairs
Review your personal circumstances before taking any further debt recovery action, and place a hold on existing action where appropriate e.g. breathing space
Stop any action being taken by our enforcement agents (bailiffs)
Consider your total indebtedness to us when considering repayment arrangements
Seek direct deductions from benefit where possible
Help you to claim council tax reduction and any relevant exemptions and discounts
Direct you to other sources of debt advice, such as Citizens Advice Pembrokeshire, and other debt counselling services such as Step Change and National Debtline.
Work with Citizens Advice to agree repayment schedules that are affordable and recognise your priority debts

We consider each taxpayer’s personal circumstances on a case by case basis.

We may ask you for supporting documentation such as a doctor's letter, a financial statement or other information so we can see the nature/extent of your vulnerability.

Once a summons has been issued and a liability order obtained, we are able to:

Request the Department for Work and Pension take deductions from your benefits, however, the Department for Work and Pensions may not agree to this if you already have reached the maximum amount they are able to deduct
Request an Attachment of Earnings from your employer. What does an Attachment of Earnings Order mean? It means we can directly take from your wages. The amount to be deducted will be based on your net earnings; the more you earn the higher the deduction will be. For example, if you have net earnings that exceed £1280 a month, we can deduct £153.60 each month. If we obtain two liability orders, we can make two deductions depending on your earnings. We are working with HM Revenue and Customs to get information about your employer and therefore we may contact your employer and request an Attachment of Earnings Order.
Place a Charging Order on your property
Apply for bankruptcy

Council Tax Information