Who has to pay?

As a general rule, it is the occupier of a property who is liable for the payment of Council Tax. The legislation doesn't use the word `occupier' as such, but states that the person (or persons) whose `sole or main residence' is in that property, will be liable to pay Council Tax for that address. Various High Court rulings, however, have made it clear that a person's sole or main residence is where they would usually reside, in other words the place which would be considered as their home, even if they spend large amounts of time away from it.

If there is more than one occupier, for instance where the owner has a lodger, then the person who has the `primary' interest in the property will be liable - in this case the owner.

It is quite possible that more than one person will be liable; where a husband and wife are joint owners or tenants for example. Spouses and partners of people who are liable to pay, through their sole ownership or tenancy for example, are also jointly liable with them.

There are a few exceptions to this general rule, in the case of nursing homes and houses in multiple occupation, for example. In these cases the owner will be liable even if they don't live there.

If a property is unoccupied the owner will be liable to pay a reduced amount of Council Tax - see the discount/exemption pages for more details.

When the liability for a property has been decided, a Council Tax bill will be issued to the person responsible for payment, detailing the amount due and, where appropriate, the instalments required for payment of that amount. Various instalment options exist and are explained in detail under how to pay pages.

Whose name should be on the bill?

There is a 'hierarchy' that is used to establish who should pay the bill (termed as being a liable party for the Council Tax). A simplified version is as follows.

To find out who is liable to pay, look at the table shown below and work down from the top until you reach a category of person who actually lives in the property. eg For an occupied property, if the owner doesn't live in it but a tenant does then the tenant will be liable to pay.

Occupied Property	Unoccupied Property
Owner	Tenant
Tenant	Owner
Occupier	Occupier
Squatter

The partner of a liable party will also be jointly liable to pay the Council Tax bill.

Exception: From 1st April 2004, the law has changed slightly. Where a person is disregarded due to either suffering from enduring mental health problems or as a full time student, and should be jointly liable with another person (who is not so disregarded), the student or person suffering from enduring mental health problems will not now be liable for the Council Tax due from 1st April 2004. (See Discounts for more information).