The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is a government body in England and Wales and an executive agency of HMRC. The Agency values properties for the purpose of Council Tax and for non-domestic rates in England and Wales. The council tax bands were set on 1 April 1991 for England, and on 1 April 2003 for Wales and range from Band A - F.

If you believe that your council tax listing is incorrect, you can challenge this with the VOA. A new version of the Council Tax challenge form to submit to your council tax listing has recently been published. This form is used if you believe that your council tax band is wrong. An appeal against your current band can be made online for various reasons.

This includes:

• You disagreeing with an alteration to your properties banding made by the VOA.
• You being new to the property in question and feel the valuation band is too high or low.
• The property being no longer a dwelling.
• The property being new or has only recently become used for domestic purposes.
• A change in a property e.g. flats merged into a house or vice versa.
• The valuation band not taking into account a relevant decision of a local Valuation Tribunal or the High Court.

When submitting the form, you should include the reasons why you think the Valuation List should be altered, and include documentary evidence where possible. You can also appoint someone else to challenge your council tax listing on your behalf.

If you live in Scotland, then you need to use the Scottish Assessors portal website to check your Council Tax band and if necessary lodge a claim with them (known as a proposal).