Am I eligible to claim working-age Council Tax Reduction?
To apply for working age Council Tax Reduction, you must meet all of the following requirements:
- You must be of working age (below state pension age).
- You must be liable to pay Council Tax for your property.
- You must be living in the property as your main home.
- You must have less than £10,000 in savings and / or capital (for example, property or investments)
If you're not currently getting Council Tax Reduction but you think you're eligible, you can make a claim now.
How does the new scheme work?
Once you've made a claim for Council Tax Reduction, the amount of Council Tax Reduction you get will depend on:
1. Your status, for example whether you are:
- single
- single with 1 child
- single with 2 or more children
- a couple
- a couple with 1 child
- a couple with 2 or more children
then
2. The amount of your net weekly income - this will be joint income if you're a couple
What income will be taken into account?
All your net weekly income is taken into account.
If you're getting some benefits, you'll be entitled to the maximum amount of Council Tax Reduction (90% discount on your bill). These benefits are known as 'passported benefits'.
There are also certain kinds of income which are disregarded (not included) when we work out which band you fall into.
Passported benefits
If you or your partner are getting one of the following 'passported benefits', you'll automatically be placed in the highest band of the Council Tax Reduction scheme. This means you'll only pay 10% of your Council Tax (a discount of 90%).
Passported benefits are:
- Income Support
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based)
- Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
Disregarded income for people with disabilities
We're committed to supporting residents with disabilities, so we do not include the following benefits when we look at your income:
- Disability Living Allowance
- Personal Independence Payments
This is because if we included these benefits, you might end up in a higher band than you should be, and paying more Council Tax than you can afford.
We will also disregard (not count) the first £40 a week of your income, when we're working out your Council Tax Reduction. For example, if you're earning £130 per week, we would ignore £40, and we would record your income as £90 per week. Depending on your circumstances, this might mean you get more Council Tax Reduction.
Other disregarded income
When we're working out your Council Tax Reduction, we'll also disregard (not include) any income you get from:
- Child Benefit
- Child maintenance payments
- War Pension
- War Disablement Benefits
- Carer's Allowance
- Part of the Housing element of Universal Credit
- Limited Capability for Work element of Universal Credit
- Carer's element of Universal Credit
- Disabled Child element of Universal Credit
How will earnings be treated?
To support people back into work, we will also disregard (not count) the first £25 a week of your net earnings, when we're working out your Council Tax Reduction.
How will savings and capital affect my claim?
The amount of savings and capital you have can affect whether you're entitled to Council Tax Reduction or not. In our new scheme, the amount you can have has changed.
If you have less than £10,000, you may be able to get Council Tax Reduction, depending on your weekly income.
If you have £10,000 or more, you will not be able to get Council Tax Reduction, no matter what your weekly income is.
Are there any non-dependant deductions?
No, we will not take any non-dependant deductions from your weekly entitlement to Council Tax Reduction.
A non-dependant deduction is where the amount of benefit you're getting is reduced because there is an adult living in your house (usually a family member or friend) who we expect will give you money towards your expenses, like paying rent.
You must still let us know about any changes to your household, as it may affect other Council Tax discounts or exemptions you're currently getting.
When will my Council Tax Reduction be paid from?
Normally if you're entitled to Council Tax Reduction, it will be applied to your bill from the date you make a claim.
If you want it to be applied from an earlier date, you must ask for this and tell us the date you'd like your claim to start from. You'll also need to tell us why you did not claim sooner. You'll need to confirm your weekly income and household details from the date you want your claim to be paid from.
We will not pay your Council Tax Reduction from an earlier date if you fail to give us a good reason about why you did not make a claim sooner.
What changes in circumstances should I report?
You must tell us about:
- changes in your household, for example:
- anyone moving in or out of your property
- any children which are born
- a change of address
- all changes in income for everyone living in your property
- changes in your savings or capital
When will my change in circumstances be applied from?
All changes in circumstances will be effective from the date of the actual change - for example, the date your baby was born. This is the same as when we're applying or making changes to any Council Tax discounts or exemptions, or when you become eligible to pay Council Tax (called Council Tax liability).
Understanding the banding scheme
The tables below should help you work out how much Council Tax Reduction you can get. You'll need to use the headings to find the right one for your circumstances. There's a lot of information in the tables and they may be hard to view on a phone screen, so we'd advise trying to look at this page on a bigger screen, for example a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer, if possible.
For example, if you're a single person with one child and your net weekly income is £250, you'll get a discount of 72% on your Council Tax bill.
From 1 April 2023, the amount of income in each band will be increased.
Single person
| £0 - £110.10 income per week | £110.11 - £198.18 income per week | £198.19 - £236.72 income per week | £236.73 - £280.76 income per week | Over £280.76 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Single person with 1 child
| £0 - £176.16 income per week | £176.17 - £264.24 income per week | £264.25 - £280.76 income per week | £280.77 - £308.28 income per week | Over £308.28 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Single person with 2 or more children
| £0 - £242.22 income per week | £242.23 - £324.80 income per week | £324.81 - £385.35 income per week | £385.36 - £495.45 income per week | Over £495.45 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Couple
| £0 - £154.14 income per week | £154.15 - £264.24 income per week | £264.25 - £319.29 income per week | £319.30 - £374.34 income per week | Over £374.34 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Couple with 1 child
| £0 - £225.71 income per week | £225.72 - £309.38 income per week | £309.39 - £352.32 income per week | £352.33 - £407.37 income per week | Over £407.37 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Couple with 2 or more children
| £0 - £286.26 income per week | £286.27 - £374.34 income per week | £374.35 - £440.40 income per week | £440.41 - £528.48 income per week | Over £528.48 income per week |
| 90% discount (Band 1) | 72% discount (Band 2) | 36% discount (Band 3) | 23% discount (Band 4) | 0% discount |
Can I appeal against the decision?
If you think that the amount of Council Tax Reduction we've awarded you is wrong, you can ask for a review, where we'll look at your claim again. You should tell us why you disagree with our decision, and show evidence of why you think the decision was wrong. You can apply for a review online.
If you're not happy with the result of our review, you can make an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It's a free and independent organisation which deals with Council Tax appeals.
You must make your appeal within two months of the date we told you about the result of your review. You must have already asked us for a review, and had the result of your review, before you contact the Valuation Tribunal.
The Valuation Tribunal will let us know that you're making an appeal, and we'll tell you and the Valuation Tribunal about any evidence we plan to use at the hearing.
Find out more about appeals on the Valuation Tribunal website.
Are you struggling to pay your Council Tax?
If you're in debt or struggling to pay other bills, you'll find advice on the Citizens Advice website, or you can contact Middlesbrough Citizens Advice to speak to someone and get help.
We're in the process of adopting a new 'exceptional hardship policy' (also called a Section 13A (1) (a) policy). This will support some residents who need extra help following the recent changes to the Council Tax Reduction scheme. The policy will come into force in April, and details of how to apply for extra help will be available on this page.
Where can I get more information?
You can read our full Council Tax support scheme for 2023/2024 online.