Petaltop wrote:Dai wrote:Hi guys
I am PhD student of Newcastle University. I am applying council tax exemption for my wife.
My wife was a student who just finished her course in the end of this January. Her Tier 4 visa finishes at the end of May. And we got married in the end of March.
So, we are aware that from the end of this January to the end of March, she has to pay the council tax because she was not longer a student and she wasn't married to me. Hence, we've paid the money to the council.
But after we showed all the documents (our visa, student certificate, our marriage certificate), the council refuse to give us the exemption from 1st April to the date my wife receives her Tier 4 dependent visa (we've submitted the Tier 4 dependent application to Home Office). The council says, even now she is my spouse, but she is still holding a Tier 4 visa. Hence, she is not regarded as my dependent and she has to pay. And they say once she has her dependent visa, then they will review it and may grant her the exemption from then on.
So, I am a bit confused that, should we pay the council tax from 1st April to the date my wife receives her Tier 4 dependent visa?
Many thanks
Dai
Only the student gets a council tax exemption. Their partner does not get an exemption if they are not a student.
It's nothing to do with being a Tier 4 dependant as even Brits can't have council tax exemption if they are a partner of student.
If the council review it and decide to give her an exemption, then that is very generous of them.
Thanks for your reply. I find something on the UK Council of International Student Affairs' website, it says
" If the only non-student adult in your dwelling is your spouse (husband or wife), civil partner or an adult dependant, the dwelling may still be exempt.
The dwelling should still be exempt if your spouse, civil partner or dependant is not a British citizen, and has been given permission to be in the UK (given ‘leave to enter’ or ‘leave to remain’) with a ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition or a prohibition on employment endorsed in their passport, or on their UK identity card ('Biometric Residence Permit' or 'Identity Card for Foreign Nationals'). This covers almost all spouses, civil partners and dependants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who come to join an international student in the UK. The Council Tax section of the UK government's website sets out the entitlement to exemption for full-time students.
Some local authorities have refused to recognise that a dependant who has permission to work in the UK but has a ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition is exempt from Council Tax. This generally happens because while the law says that the concession is for a dependant who is prevented from taking paid employment or from claiming public funds, the local authority may interpret the word "or" to mean "and" rather than "either .. or...". In May 2012, Mr Justice Sales in the High Court dismissed such an interpretation by the London Borough of Harrow on this basis, in a case specifically about the council tax liability of the dependant of a student. The judgment confirmed that local authorities should be applying the latter "disjunctive" meaning of "or", not the cumulative meaning, and that it is sufficient for a spouse to meet one of the requirements, not both. If you wish to appeal against your local authority's interpretation of "or", you should seek advice and / or support from an adviser at your institution, your Students’ Union, your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau or a local solicitor. Tell them that the High Court judgment reference is Harrow London Borough Council v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 . An earlier judgment by Lord Denning in the case of Crosfield Electronics v Baginsky and Others [1975] 1 W.L.R. 1135 was not specifically related to council tax or to students, but did have same interpretation of the word "or".
The dwelling will not be exempt if your non-student spouse, civil partner or adult dependant living with you in the dwelling are:
An EEA or Swiss national, or the family member of an EEA or Swiss national, who is exercising a right of free movement in the UK
A British citizen
Settled in the UK (with indefinite leave to enter or remain)"
So, being a Tier student's dependent, as long as he/she is not a Brit or EEA student, he/she doesn't have to pay the council tax. But now, the council doesn't judge whether she is my dependent by our marital status , but by her visa status. This makes me confused.
