|
If we decide that your challenge has not been validly made, we will write to you to explain the reason for this decision and will issue a formal 'invalidity notice'. This does not mean that we are questioning what you have said about why you wish to challenge your banding but it does mean that you do not appear to be covered by one of the limited circumstances in which a formal challenge can be made.
If you do not agree with our opinion you may, within four weeks from the date of receipt of the invalidity notice, take one of the following courses of action:
a) appeal against the invalidity notice. If you do this you it would help if you gave reasons why you think your 'proposal' met one of the limited circumstances for making a formal challenge and was therefore validly made. This will allow us to decide whether we can in fact treat your proposal as valid. For example, you may not have made it clear on your original 'proposal' form that you had become the new council taxpayer for your property in the last six months ( see example 10 under ‘Can I challenge the list entry’). Your appeal against our decision in those circumstances would need to show that your original 'proposal' was in fact made within the statutory time limit. Whatever reasons you give, you must be able to show that your original 'proposal' is covered by one of the circumstances when a 'proposal' can be made.
Please write at the top of your letter 'Appeal against invalidity notice' and we will consider the reasons you give in support of your opinion that the proposal was validly made. If you do not write to us within this period making a formal appeal against our opinion on validity, the matter of validity will be considered closed. We will still, however, review your banding where you have raised issues that suggest the banding might be incorrect (see 'Will the Listing Officer consider my representations' below).
If you do challenge our invalidity notice and we agree with you, then we will let you know and withdraw the invalidity notice. But if we still cannot agree that your ‘proposal’ has been validly made, your case for validity will be forwarded to the local valuation tribunal - an independent body responsible for making decisions on council tax appeals. If you do not provide any reasons for believing your ‘proposal’ was validly made we will be unlikely to withdraw the notice and the case for validity will be forwarded straight to the valuation tribunal. The clerk of the valuation tribunal will write to acknowledge receipt of the appeal against the invalidity notice and to give you information about the process.
Please note – for hearings relating to a proposal’s validity, the valuation tribunal will only consider whether the proposal has been validly made – i.e. whether it is covered by one of the circumstances when a proposal is permitted. They will not consider, at this stage, whether the entry in the council tax valuation list is correct.
b) make a further 'proposal' in respect of the same property. This option is not available if any time period within which you have to make a 'proposal' ( under examples 1-12 under ‘Can I challenge the List entry?’) had expired at the time the original proposal was made.
The Listing Officer has a duty to ensure that all bandings contained within the council tax valuation list are correct. If your 'proposal' is not accepted as having been validly made, but we have sufficient reason to review the current banding, we will investigate your representations and alter the valuation list if we consider a different entry should apply.
|
