Council Tax: My friend claims he gets a discount for renting a property rather than..

[Marcos]

My friend claims he gets a discount for renting a property rather than owning it. Something like 25%. Never heard of it, anyone else seen anything like it?

I know there is a discount for living along but he says this is different

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think if you are single or have one student in your property,you can get lower council tax.

[shaithis]

Yup, being single or low income are the only 2 discounts I am aware of.

A while ago I was renting a flat and the landlady charged a small fee for CT and then paid for the whole property herself......unfortunately for her she didn't do it correctly and years later ended up with a £10k council tax bill.

[scaryjim]

There's a 25% discount if there is only one eligible occupant - that is, only one person of 18 years or over who is not in an exempt group. There's a fair few exempt groups, but renters isn't one of them. Incidentally there are a couple of other reductions, but they're uncommon and very specific. I can't remember them off the top of my head because it's pushing 10 years since I did my IRRV tech, and I didn't actually do the CT Admin module (I did benefits and fraud )!

If he's on a low income he may be receiving Council Tax Benefit, which isn't a discount but is often called one, particularly by people who don't really understand it That's not exclusively available to renters though; owner occupiers can also claim CTB. However, it tends to be administered by the same people who do Housing Benefit, so it's a lot more common for people who are renting to receive it (if they get a claim for one benefit they'll generally assess entitlement to both).

if he's claiming a single person discount he isn't entitled to he's actually committing tax evasion - the illegal one that you can be prosecuted over. So if I was you I'd strongly suggest that he checks whether he's entitled to the reduction he's getting - whether it's a discount or a benefit - and lets the council know if they've made a mistake; otherwise he could end up being fined...

[Blitzen]

My friend claims he gets a discount for renting a property rather than owning it. Something like 25%. Never heard of it, anyone else seen anything like it?

I know there is a discount for living along but he says this is different

I rent out 6 houses, and none of my tenants get a discount because they are renting.
You friend is talking 100 % dross