Care and support

Help with council tax

Council tax is a tax on homes and houses. The amount of your council tax depends on which of the 8 valuation bands your house is in.

Who has to pay council tax?

Only people who are aged at least 18 have to pay. Usually the bill will be payable by someone who lives in the house unless it is empty or the landlord has to pay (see below). If more than one person lives in the house, the resident owner or tenant has to pay.

If more than one person falls into the same category they are both responsible - this is called joint and several liability. It applies to married couples or partners of the responsible person. People who are severely mentally impaired are not responsible for council tax. The bill can be issued in one name even if more than one person is responsible.

When is the landlord/owner responsible?

The landlord or owner is responsible if the house is empty, or if the house has more than one household living in it eg, bed and breakfast accommodation.

You cannot pass responsibility for council tax on to anyone else. However, your landlord may want to raise your rent to cover the cost of the council tax s/he pays.

You might be able to reduce the amount you have to pay through 5 different schemes.

These are:

• council tax exemption;
• council tax disability reduction scheme;
• council tax discount;
• council tax benefit;
• second adult rebate

Which homes are exempt from council tax?

No council tax has to be paid on your empty home if you are:

• a prisoner;
• held under the Mental Health Act;
• permanently in hospital, residential care or a nursing home;
• living elsewhere in order to give or receive personal care (unpaid);
• living elsewhere because you are a student.

You do not have to pay council tax if:

• you (and everyone else in your home) are a student;
• you are severely mentally impaired and you live alone;
• you and everyone in your home is under 18;
• you live in a self-contained ''granny flat'' and are a dependant relative of the person in the main home.

N.B. This is not a full list.

Disability reduction scheme

If the house is the main home of a disabled person, you might get the council tax bill reduced. The scheme works by reducing the bill to the band below, e.g. band D goes down to band C. Disabled people living in band A have the same amount of reduction as people in bands B to D.

To get a reduction, the disabled person's home must have:

• an extra bathroom or kitchen used by the disabled person; or
• another room which is mostly used by the disabled person e.g., a downstairs room used as a bedroom; or
• enough floor space for a wheelchair

You must apply to the local council every year, using their special form.

Council tax discount

The council tax system assumes that 2 adults live in the house. The council gives a discount if they count only one person in the home. Some people are ignored (see below).

The discount is 25% if one adult lives in the house, 50% if all the adults are ignored, and 50% for empty houses.

People who are ignored include:

• people who are severely mentally impaired;
• anyone aged under 18 or aged 18/19 for whom child benefit is payable;
• full-time students including student nurses, apprentices and people on youth training;
• unpaid live-in workers provided by a charity or voluntary agency;
• live-in carers (except parents, married or cohabiting partners) where the person cared for gets the higher rate of attendance allowance or disability living allowance and the carer provides care for at least 35 hours a week.

This is not a full list. If in doubt, seek advice.

Council tax benefit

Council tax benefit is a means-tested benefit for council tax payers calculated after any discounts or exemptions have been taken into account. If you get income support, income-based jobseekers allowance or the guarantee credit part of pension credit you will get full council tax benefit, less any deduction made for other people living in your home (see below). People on a low income can also apply. Council tax benefit is only paid for your main home.

Does council tax benefit cover the full bill?

If you are getting income support, income-based jobseekers allowance or the guarantee credit part of pension credit and you or your partner are solely responsible for the bill, council tax benefit may cover the full bill. If there is more than one person responsible, i.e., single people sharing a house, each one will have to apply for council tax benefit to cover their share.

If you are not getting income support, income-based JSA or the guarantee part of pension credit but your income is low, the amount of benefit you get depends on the size of your family and your income. You cannot get council tax benefit if you have more than £16,000 in savings no matter how low your income is (but see below about second adult rebate). For those aged 60 or over and receiving the guarantee credit part of pension credit there is no overall capital limit. You will receive maximum council tax benefit even if your savings are more than £16,000

For every pound that your income is above income support levels, you lose 20p from your council tax benefit.

Do other people living in my house affect my benefit?

If you have people living in your home, such as a son or daughter aged over 18 or an elderly relative, your council tax benefit may be reduced. These people are called non-dependants. No deduction will be made if you or your partner are registered blind, or receive attendance allowance, or any rate of the care part of disability living allowance.

Deductions are not made for anyone on income support/income-based JSA, people on youth training, full-time students, people under 18, people who are severely mentally impaired, and some carers. This is not a full list. If in doubt, seek further advice.

It is the non-dependant’s gross income that counts.

The deductions are:

£6.95 a week for gross earnings over £369 a week;
£5.80 a week for gross earnings between £296 and £368.99 a week
£4.60 a week for gross earnings between £172 and £295.99 a week or more
£2.30 a week for gross earnings under £172.00 a week
£2.30 a week for all other non-dependants who are not on income support/income-based jobseekers allowance

If you are aged 65 or over and a non-dependant comes to live in your household, or an existing non-dependant’s income increases, the deduction will not be applied to your benefit for 26 weeks.

Second adult rebate (SAR)

SAR can be paid when you are the only person responsible for the bill, but a second person lives with you. You can get SAR even if you would not otherwise get council tax benefit, eg, if you are a student or you have savings over £16,000. It is the income of the second adult that counts, so it does not matter how much income or savings you have.

Example

Sunil is a single parent who works full time. His son, who is aged 23, lives with him and claims JSA. Sunil earns too much to get council tax benefit but he would be able to get a second adult rebate.

The amount of the second adult rebate is:

25% of the bill if the second adult is on income support, income-based JSA or pension credit

15% of the bill if the second adult earns less than £169 a week

7.5% of the bill if the second adult earns £169- £219.99 a week

Note: the amount of council tax which counts is the bill after any disability reduction but before any discount is taken off.

If you can get both council tax benefit and second adult rebate, the council gives you whichever would be the higher amount

How do I claim council tax benefit?

If you claim income support, income-based jobseekers allowance or the guarantee credit part of pension credit, fill out form NHCTB1 which comes with your claim form, and send it to your local council.

If you are claiming because your income is low get a claim form from your local council, fill it in and send it back. Usually, you can claim housing benefit and council tax benefit on the same form.