Council Tax Support for working age residents
From 1st April 2021 Council Tax Support will be assessed using a banded income scheme.
This change offers residents on low incomes up to 100% towards their Council Tax bill. We are one of only 40 councils in the country where residents are able to claim 100% support towards their Council Tax.
Claims are based on a maximum of 2 children and we no longer apply any non-dependant deductions.
If you are eligible for a discount (CTS) the amount of support you are entitled to is used to reduce your overall Council Tax bill.
We will send you a new bill after the discount has been applied with the reduced instalments you need to pay.
You can get Council Tax Support whether you are in work or self employed, claim benefits like income support, Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit.
How we calculate your discount
If you claim Universal Credit
Your UC award is treated as your net income for the purposes of our CTS banded scheme.
The following UC elements will not count as part of your net income.
- UC Housing element
- Carer element
- Disabled child element
If you are in work
Our scheme uses net weekly income and the status of your household to set an income band. Your net earnings is the money you have after National Insurance and tax has been taken.
We also include any other income such as:
- State benefits
- Work pensions
- Income from savings/capital
We ignore the following benefits when we calculate your discount
- Any disability benefits
- Carers allowance
- The support component if ESA
- Child Benefit
- Child maintenance payments
We also apply a standard £25 earnings disregard for all eligible claims.
We also do not count 50% of any pension contributions you make.
All war pensions and war disablement pensions will be disregarded as income for both working age and pension age residents.
Capital
The amount of capital you can have is no more than £6000. If you or your household have more than £6000 you will not be able to claim Council Tax Support.
Discount Band Table
The income band that applies to your circumstances decides the % of discount you will get towards your bill.
Discount Band |
Discount | Single Person | Single Person with One Child |
Single Person with two or more children |
Couple | Couple with one child |
Couple with two or more children |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Band 1 |
100% | £0 to £123.00 | £0 to £192.00 | £0 to £262.00 | £0 to £176.00 | £0 to £246.00 | £0 to £315.00 |
Income Band 2 |
80% | £123.01 to £150.00 | £192.01 to £230.00 | £262.01 - £299.00 | £176.01 - £203.00 | £246.01 - £283.00 | £315.01 to £352.00 |
Income Band 3 |
55% | £150.01 to £176.00 | £230.01 to £267.00 | £299.01 to £336.00 | £203.01 to £230.00 | £283.01 to £320.00 | £352.01 to £390.00 |
Income Band 4 |
30% | £176.01 to £203.00 | £267.01 to £304.00 | £336.01 to £374.00 | £230.01 to £256.00 | £320.01 to £358.00 | £390.01 to £427.00 |
Nil award | 0% | Over £203.00 | Over £304.00 | Over £374.00 | Over £256.00 | Over £358.00 | Over £427.00 |
How to apply
To apply please complete our application form below.
You will need to provide details about your household so we advise you gather the following information before starting the form.
- Personal details for all members of your household e.g. National insurance numbers, dates of birth.
- Financial information about any income, benefits, disability benefits and savings for each member of your household.
Any supporting evidence can be uploaded inside your application form.
You can save your form and return to it later if you need to.
When you save your application we will email you a reference number and password to access your saved form.
This saved version of your form will be available for 30 days.
Please note your form will need to be fully submitted before we can process your application.
The date you submit your form is the date we will receive it.
Policy Document
For more details see our Council Tax Support Scheme document.
Further support
If you already claim Council Tax Support and need further help paying your Council Tax bill you can apply for our Council Tax hardship scheme. This scheme is in place to help residents who find themselves facing unprecedented financial crisis or hardship.
You can find more information about our Council Tax hardship scheme and how to apply by visiting our Council Tax hardship page.
Benefit Contact Details
01527 881213
We have introduced a call back facility for when we are experiencing a high volume of calls.
This will mean that instead of waiting in a queue to speak to someone after a period of waiting you will be able to leave your name and number and we will get back to you by the end of the next working day.
Benefits Opening hours
Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Bank Holidays Closed
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