posted on 10 June 2019, updated on 10 June 2019
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has produced a practical guide to how the council tax system operates in England, including an explanation of the range of exemptions and discounts available to ensure families aren’t paying more than their fair share of council tax. The new guide also provides advice on how the council tax bill is set, and how tax payers can check that they are not paying more than they should.
Full exemptions include when an entire household are full-time students, if a person has recently moved into hospital or a care home or if all people in a household have a mental impairment, including conditions like dementia, or are receiving live-in care. Other advice includes family or ‘granny’ annexes discounts, support for those in hardship, the armed forces, persons living on their own and advice when someone passes away.
The guide also explains how a taxpayer can challenge their council tax band.
'Paying the right level of council tax: A plain English guide to council tax' can be downloaded from the MHCLG website.