RICS has responded to a Department for Communities & Local Government consultation looking at direct appeals from the public on council tax.

In general we support the Governments proposals for Council Tax appeals to be made by Council Tax payers direct to Valuation Tribunals following an initial decision from the Listing Officer.

In the response we bear in mind that many, if not the majority, of these appeals are made by taxpayers without professional representation and we therefore take the view that the appeals process should be made as simple as possible and that Listing Officers should be required to give as much assistance as they can.

To ensure that this happens and the process is kept simple, The language used in making any regulations should be kept as simple as possible and should not be overly technical.

For further information contact: publicaffairs@rics.org