The Commissioners for Inland Revenue appoint a Listing Officer
for each billing authority and it is the duty of the Listing
Officer to prepare and maintain the valuation list for that
authority. The list must show an entry for each dwelling in the
authority's area, the valuation band for each dwelling, and other
consequential information. Preparation for a list starts in advance
of it coming in to force and the valuations are as at an earlier
date. This is known as the antecedent date and list that came into
force in April 1993 was based on values as at April 1991.
The value is the amount the
dwelling might reasonably have been expected to realise if it had
been sold on the open market by a willing vendor on the 1st April
1991 based on
prescribed assumption. The bands in England
are for properties valued as follows:
In the case of a
composite property
the value of the dwelling shall be that portion of the amount that
can reasonably be attributed to domestic use of the dwelling. In
all other cases the assumptions are;
An alteration to the valuation
list can only be made if one of the following circumstances has
occurred and the
effective date of a change is dependant on
the circumstances;
The taxpayer, owner or
relevant person of a
dwelling, or the billing authority in whose area the dwelling is
located may, within prescribed
time limits, make a proposal to the listing
officer to alter the valuation list in the following
circumstances:
The listing officer may serve a
notice on the proposer within 4 weeks if he considers a proposal is
invalid. Within 4 weeks of receiving the notice the proposer may
serve another proposal or
appeal against the notice. A proposer may
withdraw his proposal providing he is still the taxpayer or
receives the consent of the new taxpayer and there are provisions
for the proposal to be
settled by agreement. Where a proposal is
not settled within 6 months the Listing Officer will submit the
proposal as an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
A proposal to amend a valuation
list can be settled by agreement if the agreement is in writing and
signed by the listing officer, proposer, taxpayer and any other
person, including the billing authority, who indicates within three
months of receiving a copy of the proposal that they wish to be a
party to the proposal.
A person has extensive rights to
inspect a valuation list, a proposed new list, a list that has been
in force during the previous five years, or an outstanding proposal
to amend a list. They may make copies or, on payment of a
reasonable charge, require the person with the documents to supply
a copy. Where access is given in a non-documentary form the person
may make a transcript copy or require the person with control of
the information to supply a copy in documentary form. If access or
copies are not made without reasonable excuse the person with or
controlling a document shall be liable on summary conviction to a
fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.
The effective date for a dwelling
included in the list for the first time is determined by the
completion
notice and when an existing entry is deleted the effective date
will be the day the relevant works commenced. Where an alteration
reflects a material increase in the value of a dwelling the
effective date for any band increase will be the date of the next
relevant transaction (ie the next date of sale of the property) or
the date of the next general Revaluation, whichever is earlier.
Where it is to reflect a material reduction it will be the day the
circumstances required the reduction.
No proposal in relation to an
entry that has been the subject of a Valuation Tribunal or High
Court decisions may be made until after the expiry
of six months after the decision was made. Subject to restrictions,
a person who becomes the taxpayer of a dwelling may make a proposal
for the alteration of that dwelling if he has not previously been
the taxpayer for that dwelling. The restrictions are: