council tax balance

Hey all,

This is a really dumb question but I need some help. I just signed in online to the council website to see how much council tax we owed but it says that the outsanding balance is £0.00 and that there is a certain amount £xxx in (credit). What exactly does that mean in terms of council tax? Specifically the bit that says credit in brackets

Thanks

It means next month they will use your credit towards the monthly amt due. If you for instance pay £100 each month and have £50 credit, then next month they'll use the £50 credit towards your payment and you'll only owe £50.

If it's a lot of money, you can ask them to send you a cheque.

ah thank you very much. That makes a lot more sense now. It's just weird because they keep sending us bills yet most of the time what we pay goes towards credit. 

If they're consistently overcharging you I would recommend calling and talking to someone about it. They need to start billing you for the amount you owe, not repeatedly overbilling and putting the extra in credit.

If they're consistently overcharging you I would recommend calling and talking to someone about it. They need to start billing you for the amount you owe, not repeatedly overbilling and putting the extra in credit.

Good point. It's probably a mistake. We even got bills sent to us when DH was on job seekers and council tax benefit. We thought it was strange since he was unemployed and they still sent out bills!

Yeah, if they were billing you and you paid while you were at low income or while you didn't have a permanent home you may even be eligible to get something back. It doesn't hurt to ask.

If you are ever in credit I can see the US Treasury arguing that this needs to be reported on Form TD F 90-22.1 and the IRS similarly thinking the credit balance will need to get reported on Form 8938 next year.

If you are ever in credit I can see the US Treasury arguing that this needs to be reported on Form TD F 90-22.1 and the IRS similarly thinking the credit balance will need to get reported on Form 8938 next year.

Of course, you're absolutely correct. They would need $10,000 and $50,000 respectively in (all) aggregate accounts though. Talk about p*ss*ng on someones parade! I know, they make the rules.  Sorry, I'm still laughing at the insanity of the Treasury reporting. But I still think they're wonderful people doing a wonderful job (just in case they're peeking). Just my perverted sense of humour.

What? Why would someone need to report overpaying council tax on the FBAR? What does one thing have to do with the other?

NightDragon made a post on another thread relating to the definition of 'financial accounts'. I looked everywhere, and finally found the legal list. How long is your arm? Basically, the last item says the Secretary of the Treasury can declare almost anything a financial account (and subject to reporting on an FBAR) if he wants to. Guya did say they may 'argue' the point.

haha, um we're only in about £150 of credit. So not exactly close to $10,000