Council Tax Help

irnbru_2

izzwizz wrote:

We live in a Band A house and our Council Tax accounts for over 10% of our gross annual income. We don't earn enough to pay Income Tax or National Insurance. There are thousands of people like us paying this unfair tax.

Like others have stated, have you looked into claiming Council Tax Benefit?

exil

Indeed. You've asked if there are discounts for low income, and the answer is YES - it's called Council Tax Benefit.

As a rough guide, a couple with no kids and a tax bill of £1,000 can get CTB with
weekly income (after tax and tax credits) of about £200 a week or less (more if pensioners). If you're not paying income tax you are going to be well under this level of income and should get
the full amount .

izzwizz_2

A few people have suggested claiming Council Tax Benefit. We earn too much to qualify for council tax benefit. The rules are similar to those for income support. The limits for paying tax and NI are much higher. Hence we pay full council tax, but no income tax or National Insurance, and Council Tax accounts for around 10% of our combined gross income.

edited typos

izzwizz_2

You should also remember that many people, especially older members of the population, will have savings that preclude them from qualifying for means tested benefits regardless of their income.

LittleWoman_3

There was an attempt to make council tax fairer - it was call the POLL tax. People (especially young working people living at home) complained it was unfair that they had to pay the same amount when they often just lived in a small room as older people living in a house on their own.

What ever system we have it will be unfair to some one. I have recently discovered my brothers and sisters all think I am very rich. Just because I am very careful with my money so don't have any debt, becuase I have gone without, rather than borrow, I am considered rich!

I'mcomingbackasaman

izzwizz wrote:

You should also remember that many people, especially older members of the population, will have savings that preclude them from qualifying for means tested benefits regardless of their income.

A lot of pensioners are getting discounts on their Council Tax, even if they own their home and have up to £16,000 in the bank they can still get a discount. My parents receive a discount even though they have works pension/state pension; the only drawback is the information you have to take the trouble to provide ie. Bank statements, proof of all income. But once this is sorted you get the discount. I'd urge all OAP's to ring their Council Office and try what have you got to lose??

I'mcomingbackasaman

Sand_Man wrote:

Hi all

i have just moved into my new 3 bedroom house in leicester and i was wondoring how much council tax i have to pay

according to the council website, the max i would pay is £784 (at the moment).

Do you get a discount if you are living on your own and if so, what is it roughly

if 2 people in total live in the property, would i still be able to get an discount as it is a 3 bedroom house with only 2 people living there?

Cheers

Sand Man :mad:

When you've just moved into a house, if the houses around you are in a lower Council Tax band you can apply to the Valuation Office for your band to be lowered as well. Also if there's only 2 of you in the property and one of you is unemployed and signing on you can claim 2nd Adult rebate (about 25% discount) hope this helps.

margaretclare

I'mcomingbackasaman wrote:

A lot of pensioners are getting discounts on their Council Tax, even if they own their home and have up to £16,000 in the bank they can still get a discount. My parents receive a discount even though they have works pension/state pension; the only drawback is the information you have to take the trouble to provide ie. Bank statements, proof of all income. But once this is sorted you get the discount. I'd urge all OAP's to ring their Council Office and try what have you got to lose??

We tried it. We haven't got much in the way of savings, but between us our total income per year is nearly £25,000.

Council tax is now £99 a month - it's the biggest item in our monthly home expenses budget (which excludes food and car expenses).

We've nothing to complain about. I'm still trying to work out how and why 2 wrinklies ended up being so well-off, better than we ever were in earlier years even though we both had good careers! We're saving, however, because in the very nature of things one of us is going to be left on his/her own.

Oh, and please don't call us OAPs! I really hate that term. Pensioners, seniors, wrinklies, older people - but please not OAPs!

Margaret Clare

I'mcomingbackasaman

margaretclare wrote:

We tried it. We haven't got much in the way of savings, but between us our total income per year is nearly £25,000.

Oh, and please don't call us OAPs! I really hate that term. Pensioners, seniors, wrinklies, older people - but please not OAPs! Margaret Clare

Apologies for saying OAP's it was a slip of the tongue. Your obviously above the limit for claiming a reduction.:cool:

margaretclare

I'mcomingbackasaman wrote:

Apologies for saying OAP's it was a slip of the tongue. You're obviously above the limit for claiming a reduction.:cool:

Yes, we are - well above it.

But this is what we find all the time - the word 'pensioner' can't exist on its own without having the word 'poor' attached to it. People look at us and because we're wrinklies, it's assumed we must be hard-up. Or what's worse - it's assumed that we're not clued-up about what's going on in the world, couldn't possibly understand PINs much less internet banking! People keep trying to persuade us to claim pension credit/council tax benefit, you name it. We looked into all that ages ago and we know we're not eligible.

We do live fairly simply, modestly even, but that's because we're happy with what we've got, we like our little 10-year old Fiesta, we like our 2-bedroom bungalow and we think we've got everything pretty well sorted. We've just booked our Christmas away - a 5-day cruise up the Rhine.

I was talking to a man at Friends Provident a couple of days ago, and he sounded a bit amazed when I started mentioning things like 'A Day'.

There are these stereotypes, and I could get paranoid about them.

Margaret Clare