Council tax liability appeal
Your local council will send you a council tax bill for your home. If you do not think you should be the person to pay or that the amount is wrong, usually because you are entitled to a discount or exemption, you may be able to appeal to us. This service is free.
If you wish to appeal the refusal to award or the amount of a reduction because you are on a low income (known as council tax reduction or support) please choose the council tax reduction/support appeal type to make your appeal.
Please note: before you appeal, you must have already contacted your local council to explain what the problem is. The council should reply to you within 2 months. If you are not happy with the council’s decision, you can make an appeal to us.
The appeal process
If you would like to appeal the decision made by your local council, please first review the step-by-step process below.
There are also some helpful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) beneath the appeal process.
Understand what an appeal involves
To make an appeal you’ll first need to complete an appeal form and provide information and evidence to support your case. You’ll find details on how to do this below.
You must make the appeal within 2 months from the date on the decision.
If the council does not reply to you within 2 months, then you can still appeal. In this case, you must appeal within 4 months from the date you first contacted the council.
If your case is accepted, you will then be expected to attend an appeal hearing to present your case to the Valuation Tribunal, who will make the final decision.
The appeal process currently takes about 9 months, from submission of an appeal form to final decision.
The Tribunal is happy to facilitate for you to observe a hearing prior to your own, please see link 5 and find a date and appeal that you are available for and email your request into appeals@valuationtribunal.gov.uk (including hearing date and appeal number of the appeal you wish to observe and we will ensure you are added to the invitation list).
What can I appeal?
You can appeal if you disagree with the your local council’s decision about the following:
- Your name should not be on the bill.
- The council have refused to cut your bill.
- The council will not make your home free from council tax.
Complete the appeal form
If you want to appeal, please complete an appeal form. In the appeal form you should explain why you think the council’s decision is wrong.
The form needs to be completed in one session (there is no option to save a part-completed form).
You will also need to attach a copy of the council’s decision to the appeal form.
When completing the appeal form, please be advised after thirty minutes of inactivity, you will be required to restart the form from the beginning as progress cannot be saved.
Appeal registration
We will register your appeal within 10 working days and send you a Notice of Receipt to confirm this has been done. Please read this carefully as it will contain directions confirming what you need to do next.
At this point in the process, we’ll also send you guidance booklets about the appeals process and how to prepare your evidence.
Prepare your evidence
Once your appeal has been registered both you and the council will have four weeks from the date of the notice to provide further evidence for the appeal. You must send any further evidence to the council and the Tribunal. After the deadline has passed a member of our Clerking Team will review the documentation received from both parties and confirm if the appeal can proceed to a hearing.
If the appeal can proceed to a hearing, we will list it and will aim to provide you with at least 6 weeks’ notice of your hearing date.
During this time, you will need to prepare a rebuttal statement in response to the council’s evidence. Please allow plenty of time to do this.
Attend the hearing
Appeals are decided by the Valuation Tribunal panel at the appeal hearing. At the current time, all hearings are conducted remotely using online/audio visual conferencing software.
The tribunal is impartial and independent. The tribunal will listen to both sides before making a decision.
During the hearing:
- The panel will ask you and the council to present your cases.
- You will be able to ask questions.
- You may be asked questions.
We try to make the hearing as informal as we can, and we will try put everyone at ease. However, these are judicial proceedings, so there is some formality.
The decision
The panel will make its decision on the evidence and arguments, bearing in mind what the law (legislation and case law) allows.
Our decision is not normally given at the hearing.
We will send you a decision notice (with reasons) within 1 month of the hearing by your preferred method of communication. If this period is likely to be exceeded, then the clerk to the hearing will contact you with information on when you can expect your decision.