Council Tax Support
What is Council Tax Support?
Council Tax Support (CTS also referred to as Council Tax Reduction CTR) is a council tax discount for working age people. It reduces the amount of council tax you must pay. The size of the discount you get depends on your income and household size.
There is a different national Council Tax Support scheme for people who have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit or the State Retirement Pension. This scheme is a means tested scheme based on your income, savings or investments.
You may be eligible for Council Tax Support if you:
• live in the UK
• pay council tax
• are on a low income
• have savings less than £6,000 if you are working age or less than £16,000 if you have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit or the State Retirement Pension
Covid-19
Working age people receiving Council Tax Support will receive hardship up to £160.00 towards their council tax bill. If you are already in receipt of council tax reduction you do not need to do anything, we will deduct this automatically from your council tax bill. If you have already made a payment which means you are entitled to a refund there will be instructions with your new bill which you will receive soon on how to do this. If you are not in receipt of Council Tax Support and your circumstances have changed due to the COVID-19 please apply on the link above.
Universal Credit
If you make a claim for Universal Credit and tell the DWP that you pay council tax they will send us details of your Universal Credit payments and your wages if you are working from an employer. We will use this information to work out the Council Tax Support entitlement.
To apply for Universal Credit: go to https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit
How is Council Tax Support Calculated?
The table below shows the maximum discount available to those people who are working age.
| Discount | Passported |
Single Income Band £ |
Couples Income Band £ |
Family with 1 child £ |
Family with 2+ Children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 90% | Relevant benefit | 0.00 to 120.00 | 0.00 to 165.00 | 0.00 to 220.00 | 0.00 to 275.00 |
| Band 2 85% | N/A | 120.01 to 160.00 | 165.01 to 210.00 | 220.01 to 265.00 | 275.01 to 315.00 |
| Band 3 50% | N/A | 160.01 to 245.00 | 210.01 to 285.00 | 265.01 to 345.00 | 315.01 to 385.00 |
| Band 4 25% | N/A | 245.01 to 315.00 | 285.01 to 365.00 | 345.01 to 420.00 | 385.01 to 470.00 |
Disregarded income
When we work out entitlement to Council Tax Support, we do not take the following income into account
-
Disability Living Allowance
-
Personal Independence Payment
-
Armed Forces Independence Payment
-
Child Benefit
-
Child Maintenance
-
War Disablement Benefits.
-
We also apply an earnings disregard of £7.50 for single people, £12.50 for couples and £27.50 for lone parents
Other People who live with you
If you have other adults who are 18 or over who live with you, we make a non-dependant charge of £3.00 rising to £3.25 on 1 April 2021 for each adult. These charges relate to our working age scheme. There are different charges for the national pensioner Council Tax Support scheme.
You can see full details of the scheme at Council Tax Support banded scheme
Further information
Pages in this area
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