Council Tax challenge form (VO 7455): blank form and how to fill it in

The Council Tax challenge form is the Valuation Office's VO 7455, headed "Proposal to alter the valuation list". There's one for England and one for Wales. You can also challenge online through GOV.UK, whether or not you have a legal right to challenge. You need the form if someone is challenging for you, and you can use it instead of the online service if you prefer.

The form is the easy part. What decides a challenge is the evidence you send with it: similar homes nearby in a lower band.

Download the blank form

• Council Tax challenge form for England (PDF)
• Council Tax challenge form for Wales (PDF), in English

Both are HMRC's own forms (version 10/25) from GOV.UK's challenge form page, republished under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Check there for a newer version. GOV.UK suggests saving the form and opening it in the free Adobe Reader to fill it in on screen, or printing it and filling it in by hand.

Where to tick, and what to leave blank

Pick your situation (proposal vs band review) and the form below shows what changes. The big difference is question 1 in Part B: a new taxpayer ticks (b), someone whose band was changed by a notice ticks (a), and for a band review we suggest leaving it blank, since none of the boxes is a band review.

Band reviewNo legal right to challenge (most people)New taxpayerYou became the payer in the last six monthsBand changedA Listing Officer's notice in the last six months

12345

1. 1The address exactly as the band list shows it.
2. 2The name of the Council Tax payer.
3. 3The date the payer took over, if you know it.
4. 4Leave the valuation list reference blank unless you know it.
5. 5Your current band.

6789

1. 6Leave every box in question 1 blank: none of them is a band review. (Our advice: GOV.UK doesn't say what to tick for one.)
2. 7Start with “I am asking for a band review”, then one sentence on why. It shows only two lines, so list your similar homes on a separate sheet.
3. 8The band you think is right.
4. 9Leave “with effect from” blank: the Valuation Office sets it.

1011121314

1. 10Tick one, usually Owner/Occupier. Acting for someone? Send an authority to act form with it.
2. 11Your name, and your address only if it's not the property's.
3. 12A phone number and email, so the caseworker can reach you.
4. 13Sign here.
5. 14And date it.

The England form, version 10/25; the Wales form has the same boxes in the same places. Green: fill in or tick. Red: leave blank. Grey: if it applies. The £39 challenge part-fills the form for you, so you check it and sign, and writes your similar homes into the email you send with it. Check your band free first.

Parts D and E

Part D asks for the property's type, floors, rooms, year built, garage and parking, which helps the caseworker line your home up against your comparables. Fill in what you know, and leave a field blank rather than guess. Part E asks about extensions, conversions and demolitions, with dates, including any by a previous owner.

What to send with it

• a sheet listing your similar homes in a lower band, with their bands and why each one matches (how to choose them);
• any sales from around the valuation date (where to find them);
• a short covering email: the address, the current band, the band you're asking for, and a summary of the evidence.

Where to send it

GOV.UK's challenge guide gives [email protected]; its form page and the form itself still show [email protected]. Attach the completed form, and the authority to act form if there is one, to the email. By post: Valuation Officer, Wycliffe House, Green Lane, Durham, DH1 3UW.

Before you send

• The right form for your nation, in its current version
• Question 1 ticked only if a ground applies to you, and blank for a band review
• The address exactly as the band list shows it
• Current band and the band you think is right filled in
• Part C signed and dated
• Your list of similar homes and any other evidence attached
• Authority to act attached, if someone is acting for you
• A copy of everything kept, with proof of when you sent it

After you send it

GOV.UK says acknowledgement usually comes within a few days, and within 28 days at most. Keep paying your current bill. How long it takes covers the rest.