One of many bill increases in April. You should have got notification of your council tax rates for the 2023 April calendar tax year, which have probably gone up effective from the 1st April.
Northern Ireland uses a different system known as 'rates. The alternative domestic rating system in Northern Ireland will see households pay at least 6% more.
Is there anything I can to do save money on Council tax bills?
There is quite a lot of useful info on Citizens advice
Check if you can pay less council tax
Discounts - Check if you can get a single person discount
If you're the only adult in your home, you’ll get a 25% discount on your council tax bill. When working out how many people live in a property, some people aren’t counted - they’re called ‘disregarded people’.
If everyone who lives in the property is disregarded there’s still a council tax bill, but it will have a 50% discount. If everyone in your home is a student or severely mentally impaired, you won't pay any council tax. If you're entitled to a discount because someone has moved out, tell the council. You're entitled to the discount from when the person moved out, even if you told the council later.
Discounts - If you have another home
Your local council might give you a discount if you have another home you don't live in - for example, if it's not safe to live in or it's connected to your main home.
Discounts - If you or someone you live with is disabled
The council tax bill for the property might be reduced.
You must be able to show that a disabled person lives in the property to claim a reduction. The property must also have either:
Discounts - If you think your bill is wrong
If you think you should get a discount and your bill doesn’t show you got one, you should apply to your local council for a discount as soon as possible. You can find your council's contact details on GOV.UK.
Check if you can apply for Council Tax Reduction
If you’re on a low income you might be able to get your council tax reduced. If you get benefits or have other people living with you, this might affect how much your council tax is reduced by.Your local council will ask you details about your income and your circumstances, so they can work out if you’re entitled to Council Tax Reduction (CTR). They will then work out your new bill and tell you how much council tax you need to pay.
If you have other people living with you who are aged 18 or over, you might all be responsible for paying council tax. Only one of you needs to apply for CTR. If you're awarded CTR, you won't normally get an actual payment. The council will reduce the amount of council tax you have to pay.
Council tax banding
Council Tax bands are based on how much a property was worth on:
You can challenge your Council Tax band if you think the band is wrong.
More info here
Useful Links
Citizens advice - Council Tax
Council tax: What is it and how much is it rising? BBC news
Council tax, water and mobile bills rise for millions - BBC news
Spring Budget 15th Mar 2023 - Energy Price Guarantee extended to June / pension lifetime allowance abolished / 30 hrs free childcare
Energy bill support set to be extended / Energy bills Help + Discounts, Grants & more
Apply for Council Tax Reduction
- In England, The government has allowed local authorities in England to increase council tax by up to 5%. Most have gone up by 5%, which means that an increase of about £100 a year for the average band D property. Where a local authority wants to hike council tax by more than the 5% cap, a referendum would be required.
- In Wales, there have never been caps on council tax rises. in Wales, the average hike is set to be 5.5% although maybe more in certain areas.
- In Scotland, , there is no cap on council tax increases this year. All 32 local authorities in Scotland have now set their council tax rates for the coming year, with 22 opting for a 3% rise.
Northern Ireland uses a different system known as 'rates. The alternative domestic rating system in Northern Ireland will see households pay at least 6% more.
Is there anything I can to do save money on Council tax bills?
There is quite a lot of useful info on Citizens advice
Check if you can pay less council tax
- Discounts - for example, for a single person or an empty property
- Council Tax Reduction (CTR) if you have low income
- A different reduction if you can’t get much CTR
Discounts - Check if you can get a single person discount
If you're the only adult in your home, you’ll get a 25% discount on your council tax bill. When working out how many people live in a property, some people aren’t counted - they’re called ‘disregarded people’.
If everyone who lives in the property is disregarded there’s still a council tax bill, but it will have a 50% discount. If everyone in your home is a student or severely mentally impaired, you won't pay any council tax. If you're entitled to a discount because someone has moved out, tell the council. You're entitled to the discount from when the person moved out, even if you told the council later.
Discounts - If you have another home
Your local council might give you a discount if you have another home you don't live in - for example, if it's not safe to live in or it's connected to your main home.
Discounts - If you or someone you live with is disabled
The council tax bill for the property might be reduced.
You must be able to show that a disabled person lives in the property to claim a reduction. The property must also have either:
- an extra kitchen or bathroom to meet the needs of a disabled person
- any other room (except a toilet) which is mainly used by a disabled person to meet their needs
- enough indoor space for a disabled person to use their wheelchair
Discounts - If you think your bill is wrong
If you think you should get a discount and your bill doesn’t show you got one, you should apply to your local council for a discount as soon as possible. You can find your council's contact details on GOV.UK.
Check if you can apply for Council Tax Reduction
If you’re on a low income you might be able to get your council tax reduced. If you get benefits or have other people living with you, this might affect how much your council tax is reduced by.Your local council will ask you details about your income and your circumstances, so they can work out if you’re entitled to Council Tax Reduction (CTR). They will then work out your new bill and tell you how much council tax you need to pay.
If you have other people living with you who are aged 18 or over, you might all be responsible for paying council tax. Only one of you needs to apply for CTR. If you're awarded CTR, you won't normally get an actual payment. The council will reduce the amount of council tax you have to pay.
Council tax banding
Council Tax bands are based on how much a property was worth on:
- 1 April 1991, for England and Scotland
- 1 April 2003, for Wales
You can challenge your Council Tax band if you think the band is wrong.
More info here
Useful Links
Citizens advice - Council Tax
Council tax: What is it and how much is it rising? BBC news
Council tax, water and mobile bills rise for millions - BBC news
Spring Budget 15th Mar 2023 - Energy Price Guarantee extended to June / pension lifetime allowance abolished / 30 hrs free childcare
Energy bill support set to be extended / Energy bills Help + Discounts, Grants & more
Apply for Council Tax Reduction
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265 Comments
sorted byA lot of the councils in Scotland are (like everywhere else) strapped for cash, and we also have a different income tax rate, and frequently have significantly higher fuel bills, so not as simple as just the council tax in the overall scheme of things.
There was about 5-6 layers of management, each manager had a manager. It was wild. A lot of wastage and pointless training courses. (edited)
Wages are now poor for lower staff so recruitment is an issue. Pension is still good but that's it.
It's because they need it to apply for
City status (wonder what they benefit from that...)
No one here asked for this kind of work to be done.
Police are unfit for purpose and don't respond so shouldnt be paying for them.
Cant get waste taken away and cant even drop it off when I need to now.
Where the money goes I have no idea
When you drive at night are there street lights?
Your kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids go to school?
Local park , football pitch or kids playground?
In winter do you see roads salted?
CCTV in your local town?
The list really is endless but everyone always mentions the bins
Until people shut their mouth and don't go in the streets to protest...everything will just go worse and worse...look at the French people.they got balls! (edited)
Only a 5% increase compared to 10%+ inflation seems a bargain, somehow
Not everyone in local authority jobs sits around doing nothing all day. Some of us work damn hard keeping our communities running as best we can, with extremely limited resources and funding.
Maybe some of you should think about that when you're doing your pointless marketing jobs, or whatever other crap you do, contributing absolutely nothing of value to society.
If you want to do something vote in a competent, progressive, government that doesn't want to just protect the rich. Otherwise put up and shut up.
Donations to political parties have and always will create a path to taxpayers money.
For example if your local council saves money from its budget, the budget is cut next year.
If the make a saving that creates profit it returns to the treasury.
Really wanna change things, vote every single time you can. Even if you only spoil the paper to indicate none of them get your vote, which in itself sends a message.
On average out of every comment on this post 1 in 3 won’t vote.
Can't they tap into that bottomless pit of cash to spend on social care, potholes etc?
Our council (west Sussex) spends more on the environment and climate change than highways and transport (edited)
Down with socialism.
The problem is the crooks in the current government who have fleeced the public for everything over the last 13 years.
We have seen the largest (hundreds of billions) transfer of public funding into private hands ever with this governmemt.
People are constantly getting angry about taxes and funding yet every tax break. The top 10% of earners hold over 50% of then countries wealth.. thats people on around £80k.. over 120 puts you in the top 1.
Tax isn't the problem... Who is taxed, how much and how the money is spent are the issues.
People in this thread need to stop the idea of 'punching down'.. the problem is obvious when you take more than 3 seconds to think about it.
you trying to cheer us up mate?
My first payment came out today, yet another increase along with the water, energy bills, broadband and no doubt the TV license next year
The natural resources we did have - North Sea Gas were squandered so can someone explain to me how we can grow the economy with an ageing population, low levels of investment and a rampant housing market.
Honestly, no one can give a coherent answer other than running on raw emotion.
The genie is out of the bottle so to speak, the UK sold off most of it's manufacturing industry and no longer a viable route in most cases, our economy is mostly service based and locked our self into globalization so heavily reliant on external countries for our worth.
We're importing more and more people while the housing isn't even in place and resources are stretched beyond belief.
This is what 13 years of constant cuts looks like.
Per person is fairer and may have an effect on our rising population.
Then everyone pays a small share each for the small benefits we get.
My council recently dug up the curbs at the end of the road so they could move the slopped bit a foot or two - now it is more difficult to see cars coming around the corner if you are in a wheelchair! Just one example of the endless waste that can only be attacked by cutting the funding. People pay council tax only because of the bully tactics of the debt collectors, if it was optional then that would be fair. At the moment, the people who benefit most usually don't actually pay any council tax - typical of the politicians to steal money with one hand and then create another bureaucracy where you can plead your case that you can't afford it.
At least they're consistent, phew!
google.com/amp…2bn
Surrey council in debt to nearly 2bn.
Mine have gone down 50% already (5p gas, 21p electricity)