Tax relief on waste charges

I am trying to figure out what exactly I can claim back.

I have been in my house 4 years now and with all the hype over bin charges etc, the charges weren't paid until 1.5 years ago. But on top of that, I was being charged for a year I wasn't in the house.

I am in the process of sorting this out, as dealing with local authorities and being told one thing, then another and then nothing is all fun.

So in 2003, I paid a certain amount. In 2004 I paid everything else to date. I basically set up a direct debit to pay what was owed that ran from Sep 2003 until March 2004. Then I paid what was owed for 2004 a few months later.

There is still arrears from 2000 when I wasn't in the house. And there is a certain amount they are in the process of tracing that I paid.

I paid the 2005 charges today and I asked about the tax relief. I was told that all I needed to do was fill out a form and send in all my receipts to claim relief on what I paid.

Now looking it up, all I can see is reference to the previous calendar year and only being entitled to relief on money paid on time. It does say that its up to the authority to say when it was on time or not.

So what exactly can I claim on?

I was being charged for a year I wasn't in the house.

You presumably need to take this up with the local authority to get a refund or a credit in respect of this overpayment.

So what exactly can I claim on?

For this year you can register for domestic refuse charges tax credits [broken link removed]. For previous years you should also be able to claim for such charges paid on time to the relevant local authority. If I was you I'd claim for this year online and then write a letter to my tax office outlining the charges for which tax relief was previously not claimed, including copies of P60s and any receipts for the relevant years. They will then review your tax for the relevant years and issue a refund if tax was overpaid.