canadianscotland

Hi,

Am part way through my 5 year LTR(M) visa.
Both myself and my husband are currently full time students (though my husband works full time as well).
We have been told that we are eligible for Student Council Tax Exemption, but are unsure if this would invalidate my Visa?

From checking up the "no access to public funds" term in my visa excludes me from claiming Council Tax "Reduction".
I thought this would rule it out, but apparently Council Tax "Exemption" is a different thing altogether (Council Tax Reduction seems to be more like credits against Council Tax for being unemployed or low income etc.). To complicate things further we live in Scotland, where I understand the laws applying to Council Tax Reduction are slightly different to those in England.

It's not a small amount of money to save, so we'd like to claim it if we are entitled to it, but I'd hate to jeopardize my visa application if we claimed this in error.

Has anyone experience of this and could they advise?

Thanks,
Claire

BritInParis

Council tax benefit/reduction are public funds and you are not entitled to them. Council tax discounts, such as sole occupancy rates, are not. In short you are fine to claim.