Council Tax Help

mishkanorman

robindunne1 wrote:

I hate council tax!!! My bill said that both the husband and the wife are liable for council tax, but my wife is a SAHM and has no income. How is she meant to be able to pay a tax without any income??? Simple I have to pay it!!!

I would guess that a sigle persons discount is given because there is only one income. Yet we only have one income, but have to support more people and don't get the discount!

If she were a student/foreigner/nun and even a convict we'd get the discount - but not a woman staying at home to look after the kids!!

Rant over....

I think the reason for the discount is because if only one person is making use of the facilities the council have to maintain, ie rubbish collection, its in theory costing less and the saving is passed on.

Being a stay at home mum is a matter of choice and not the same as being a student who cannot work due to study.

im sure a lot of people feel they shouldnt have to pay for council tax but if things like street lighting and verges, (things we make use of everyday without even thinking about it ) arent paid for by means of council tax how should they be covered ?? There really isnt a simpler way to make sure we all live in a maintained 'communal' space.

please feel free to correct me if ive missed the point of this tax,


mishka

SuzySF

i tried to get some kind of reduction - I'm registered Disabled, and get a small discount for that, but since August my husband has been unable to work - hes self employed - I tried to get the 2nd adult discount but it does not apply if you are MARRIED !! the 2nd person can be a lodger, relative whatever, but not married or partner. Just lately I find myself saying Is it Me ?? quite a lot .....our savings are over the limit although our monthly income is now just under £400 - our council tax accounts for 1/4 of that, and we still have to live - I've come to the conclusion that you are better off with NO Savings, renting property, and having a gaggle of children - you seem to get money thrown at you then. I dont have kids, live frugally, have savings and only buy when i can affod it - yet i see women i was in school with have 3 + kids, brand new car, foreign holidays, latest fashion in clothes and shoes, drink and smoke, live rented council house, one income etc I not been able to work it out yet - can someone help me ????
ggggrrrrrrr
sorry rant over for now !! lol

bootman

I called this week about the 25% discount. My husband is only at home a couple of days a month due to his work taking him either abroad or the other end of the country. Living in hotels.

I got a very abrubt lady saying as it is the marital home then no reduction. It's ridiculous I pay over £200 a month in council tax just for me.

Maybe I should say he has left me!!

I'mcomingbackasaman

margaretclare wrote:

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.

Not everyone's as clued up as you Margaret (in my opinion no offensive intended)but thousands don't claim their rights, you aren't one of them. Some *twirlies drew the short straw and have ended up with basic state pension and looking forward to the trip to the Post office every Tuesday.[/B] the ones who are disabled, in bad health and/or 3 sheets to the wind if you get my meaning.

*Twirlies if you didn't know was coined from the phrase Amatwirly(Am I too early) when pensioners get on the bus in a morning just before 9.30 am when it's then free.

Ee by gum can't wait to be old enough to draw me pension I've always wanted to see the world and travel I can get as far as New Brighton :rotfl:

margaretclare

Twirlies - I like it. There was a thread over on the Age Concern discussion boards very recently, all about a woman who, it was said, had been 'thrown off' the bus for being 2 minutes early. Apparently, so the thread goes, she's now acquired a watch.

Margaret Clare

flossy_splodge

Just a small point of information: In considering savings when looking at any state benefit, please remember that ISA's PEP's TOISA's etc DO need to be declared to the benefits agency although the Inland Revenue do NOT require them to be flagged up. Really encourages savings, NOT!! Anything over £3000 in savings affects what you may be entitled to. £16000 is the top limit that if you have savings ABOVE this amount means you get nothing. So less than about half the current National average wage is considered the maximum reasonable 'cushion' to have. Equates to 6 months or so income if earning at national average wage. Yet still Gordon Brown gives away huge piles of dosh to overseas projects whilst there are very many British citizens truly struggling to survive. Remember May 5th if you don't like the current system. Its in your power to change it.

hamaradam

I have just been reading this thread, somebody in my street had a similar problem with not earning enough but still having to pay the full C Tax, she is living with her partner. She did the following to get the discount to help her moneyflow or rather lack of it. (Her partner has a long term illness, but doesn't get a benefit, and now he is disillusioned with the benefits system apparently) (quel supris)

What she did is buy a mobile home - a second hand motorhome, and her partner lives in that four days a week. Its at the end of their garden. And sometimes they move it outside on the street. By law he can stay in the house for no more than three nights a week. So that's one way round it., he spends the rest in the motorhome and sometimes drives it a bit. I have never heard the likes of it! - though predictably they do have 'people' checking to see that he comes out of the motorhome early mornings.
I have never heard the likes of it. It seems to work and its quite clever isn't it., and mildly amusing I suppose.! Perhaps they have been a little extreme, but I say good luck to them!

I'mcomingbackasaman

Wonder if tents qualify I could ship my OH into there. Otherwise anybody know how much secondhand mobile homes cost these days. Seriously though there always loopholes people find round all benefits some needing an awful lot of imagination it seems but who are the fools the ones who pay up on time sometimes even before the red one gets posted and the ones who find a loophole ? I'm beginning to wonder?!?!?!?!?!?!? what is the world coming to (blah blah)

steve_cov

robindunne1 wrote:

My main gripe is that all tax should be based on income - is there any other fairer way?

As a single, childless person in my own home, I use the following services paid for out of council tax:

• Bin collection (but only once per fortnight: I don't produce enough rubbish to bother every week!)
• Recycling collection (sorted by me, also fortnightly)
• Roads (when actually maintained)
• Streetlighting
• Polling station

The ludicrous local income tax suggested by the Lib Dems would cost me nearly £1600 a year for these meagre services, more than double their current cost to me. Over £130 a month for two bin collections and some potholed roads seems a bit steep to me.

I am quite happy to pay at present, even though I never use the libraries, schools, leisure centres, golf courses and so on. I see their social benefit, but I would baulk at being asked to double my contribution for no additional use.

There is no redistributive aspect to local taxation - and neither should there be - and I always wonder at the motives of people who think local services should be funded "according to ability to pay". Perversely, I would be happy to pay more income tax - but only for social security, health and transport services, not to subsidise local services I never use.

Older Money Savers will remember there was an attempt to reform local taxation: it was called the Community Charge but rapidly became known as the Poll Tax.

mac123

steve_cov wrote:

As a single, childless person in my own home, I use the following services paid for out of council tax:

• Bin collection (but only once per fortnight: I don't produce enough rubbish to bother every week!)
• Recycling collection (sorted by me, also fortnightly)
• Roads (when actually maintained)
• Streetlighting
• Polling station

QUOTE]

So when you do have kids and they go to school, you'll probably be the first to moan that the school's not up to scratch

Oh yeah, and i suppose if you get burgled or your house catches fire, you obviously won't want a response from the emergency services?? Thought so.