Expats to lose UK council tax discounts.

Expats who retain a property in England could soon be faced with a bigger council tax bill, under new plans unveiled by the Government.


Under current regulations, individuals who own an English property which is no-one’s sole or main home can apply for a discount on the amount of council tax they are charged.
 
Many expats who keep a base in their home country take advantage of the various tax breaks offered on empty homes, which, depending on circumstances, can reduce a bill by up to 100 per cent. Local councils can also allow expats to designate their property in England a “second home”, resulting in tax relief of between 10 and 50 per cent – though in practice, many councils will insist on classifying such properties as a main residence.


Proposals announced by the communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles yesterday, however, could see councils given the liberty to remove these subsidies – substantially adding to many expats' costs.

Commenting on this, a Beijing-based expat who keeps a house in Greenwich, said that although those who could afford to own two homes would probably be able to manage a “few hundred pounds extra on council tax”, there was a general feeling in the expat community that owners of second homes were being unfairly penalised.

“Given the massive abuse of the benefits system in the UK, this once again seems to be taking more from an easy target – [people] who, despite being out of the country, are already contributing towards services they're not using – rather than the more difficult long-term reduction of unwarranted payments to those who take more than their fair share,” he said.

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