Impact of P N Bewley Ltd v HMRC 2019

[JMW_tax]

(this may need to be posted somewhere else as is about Council Tax).

I read with interest the article by Andrew Hubbard 11/3/19 called When is a Dwelling not a Dwelling - and wondered if this has a knock on impact for council tax when a property is undergoing repairs - if those repairs are significant enough for the property to be temporarily unsuitable as a dwelling - i.e. not about to do some or all of the normal daily activities like sleep, cook, toilet and bath, then could it be argued that Council Tax should not be due? I suspect this is not the case as long term unoccupied are taxed.

I have no specific reason to query this aspect, except out of interest; though as a BTL landlord, I have to pay Council Tax whenever a property is renovated, as would so many other landlords, so this could be a handy little loophole.

Thoughts.

Cheers
Jeremy

[maths]

It's always difficult to utilise a tax case decided for say income tax purposes to a case concerned with say capital gains tax.

Bewley was an SDLT case. I doubt it would have much authority when the matter is a council tax issue.