Thousands issued warning over council tax discounts, here's what you need to know

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has warned that thousands of households could be overpaying £1,000s on council tax. The consumer rights champion recently announced on a video on his twitter feed that there are several different types of discount available that many are not aware of.

Discounts range from 25% to 100%, which could be worth £1,000s depending on a person’s situation. Lewis even described how some people are even entitled to backdated overpayments which could give eligible households a nice little lump sum to help them out through the cost of living crisis.

Council tax discounts

Lewis explains in his video that the place to start is working out how much households should be paying. First of all you need to consider how many ‘qualifying adults’ are in your household, as per Money Saving Expert:

• TWO or more qualifying adults in a household – means that no discount applies, and the full council tax is due.
• ONE qualifying adult in a household – means that a single person discount applies, equivalent to 25% off the council tax bill.
• NO qualifying adults in a household – results in either a discount of 50% or a 100% exemption, depending on exactly who lives in the property. Though note that having no qualifying adults is not the same as when a property is unoccupied.

To work out who qualifies it is a good idea to see who is exempt as the following cases do not need to pay council tax:

1. Children.
2. Full-time students.
3. Adults considered to be 'severely mentally impaired' (SMI).
4. Live-in carers.
5. Ukrainian refugees.

If you don't fall into any of the categories above, you will be classified as a qualifying adult for council tax purposes. However, if you are the only qualifying adult in the household, you will be eligible for a single person discount, which is 25% off your bill.

Read more:

⋙ Millions affected by tax code errors could be due payments, here's how you can claim it

⋙ Households could get £1000 back on council tax bills, here's how to claim it

Further council tax reductions

There are further reductions available based both on your income levels and on the type of property you live in.

Regarding income, it is possible you are eligible for a discount of 25% if you are on a low salary and/or benefits. Similarly, those on Pension Credit have been able to receive discounts of up to 100%.

Discounts due to type of property you live in are also available in the following instances:

• Properties adapted for a disabled person - in this case can normally drop a council tax band.
• Properties being renovated to make them liveable - discounts available of up to 100%.
• Properties that are empty.
• Properties with an annexe.
• Properties that are second homes but are not usually lived in can be due a discount of up to 50%.

These discounts will not happen automatically so you must apply to be considered for the savings. Applications can be done online at Gov.uk for England and Wales and at Mygov.scot for those in Scotland.

Read more:

⋙ Thousands of people on benefits warned of change in payment date this month: here's what to expect

Sources used:

- Money Saving Expert 'Council tax discounts'

- Daily Echo 'Council tax discount could save you thousands on tax bill'

- Gov.uk 'How Council Tax works'