Doreen Clark v Dawn Bunyan (Listing Officer)
[2024] EWHC 486 (Admin)
Laurentiu Tarbuc v Dawn Bunyan (List Officer)
24 May 2024
[2024] EWHC 897 (Admin)
High Court
Someone challenged their council tax band. The court threw out their challenge because they were too late to appeal and their complaint was about the facts of the case, not a mistake in the law. The council tax office properly looked at all the evidence before deciding on the band.
Key Facts
- •Laurentiu Tarbuc appealed a Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE) decision upholding his property's Council Tax Band E.
- •The appeal was significantly out of time.
- •The VTE based its decision on comparable property sales around the antecedent valuation date (AVD) of April 1, 1991.
- •The appellant argued the VTE improperly considered plot size, flood risk, and the presence of a garage.
- •The appeal was heard by Mr Justice Julian Knowles.
Legal Principles
Council Tax banding is determined by a property's hypothetical value on the AVD, considering its state on the relevant date. Evidence used includes comparable property sales.
Clark v Bunyan [2024] EWHC 486 (Admin)
An appeal to the High Court from the VTE is on points of law only; the court will not rehear the merits. The test is whether the VTE's decision was irrational, applied the wrong legal principles, or considered irrelevant matters.
Pengelly v The Listing Officer [2014] EWHC 4142 (Admin); Ramdhun v Valuation Tribunal of England [2014] EWHC 946 Admin; Ramsay v Commissioners of HM Revenue and Customs [2013] UKUT 0226 (TCC)
Statutory time limits are important and should be observed. Wilful non-compliance is generally not tolerated. Applications for extensions of time should address the seriousness of the breach and show good reason under the Denton test.
Humphrey v Fenland DC [2019] RVR 107; Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] WLR 3926
Outcomes
The appeal was dismissed.
The appeal was substantially out of time, and no good reason for an extension was provided. The appeal did not raise a question of law but rather a disagreement with the VTE's factual findings and weighing of evidence. The VTE considered all relevant factors, including those the appellant claimed were ignored.