Council tax lower than last year 29 March 2022 at 5:37PM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 8 replies 194 views

cb7188

Hi all. Just looking for some clarification as I’m confused and know I’m probably missing something but can’t figure it out. We moved to our rental flat in August 2021, were sent out council tax bill and have been paying by direct debit since then. The other day we received our 2022-2023 council tax bill and it is showing the payments for the new year as being lower than than last year, despite showing the % increase for each section etc.

To cut a long story short, we’ve been paying £162 per month and it is now going to be £127 per month. The band is showing as the same and there has been no change in our circumstances. Can anyone shed any light and help me get my head around this please?

Thrugelmir

Paying your bill over more months, thereby spreaading the cost. 

cb7188

Thrugelmir said:

Paying your bill over more months, thereby spreaading the cost. 

But wouldn’t that mean that I was effectively paying council tax for the months before I moved there too?

MovingForwards

Original bill was covering August to March, the direct debits were possibly August to January (or March).

New bill covers April to March and therefore you've got 10 (or 12) months to pay the bill.

cb7188

I understand it’s covering a different time period but it still doesn’t work out. Even if we’d lived in the area for the whole 12 months, £162 x 10 (or £162 x 12) doesn’t equal what the amount for our council tax band should be for 2021-2022. So £162 x the 8 months we’ve lived here definitely doesn’t add up

elmer

Council tax is a daily charge, divide this years bill by 365 and then times that daily rate by the number of days you lived there prior to 31/03/22
If it still looks like the figures are way out  bearing in mind this years increase, do the same with last years charge

If it still looks weird, call the council, but most of these queries are resolved by showing the daily rate x the number of days.

The monthly amount is not  usually a comparable figure when you were billed for part of the year last year

elmer

lincroft1710

What was the total amount you paid 2021/22 and what is the total amount you are due to pay 2022/23?

macman

As above: forget the monthly amount, which can be either one twelfth or one tenth of the annual cost. What is the annual cost for each year?
Has someone moved out, do you qualify now for SPD, SMI, etc? How many qualifying adults live in the property?
Which LA is this?

LittleMissDetermined

This happened to us too (we moved a month before you) and I think we eventually worked out that we had missed a month whilst they moved us from one address to the other.  Just check your bill from last year and your final bill for your old address, if it still doesn't add up give them a call.