Council tax very unfair to single people

It doesn’t seem any less fair than the current system tbh

These children which people have will be paying YOUR state pension one day.

Just a return on the investment for their healthcare, education, any benefits.....

So like there was a Malcolm Rifkind who lived is a castle like house(very nice) was billed less than an ordinary household . Two teenagers and two adults .
I never paid a penny and plenty like me I was eighteen .

I think working adults should all pay their own way in terms of tax.

If you want to subsidise your adult children that’s up to you.

I'm not passing my bloody tax liability onto my kids; don't be soft.

Council tax is based on property & location. Not occupants. You are already receiving a discount because you live alone. But it doesn't make the services any cheaper. It's not down to the council how many adults are splitting the bill.

Why not, if they’re working?

I do think there should be an exemption for people in full time education.

No I never paid a penny as a teenager and I don't think any teenager's living with parents should ..

It's not only the council tax, though, is it?
Single people are stung in every way:

Food and shopping, e.g. three for two offers etc.
Sharing subscription services, e.g. Prime or Netflix or similar
Two-for-one, travel together and family railcards
Tax breaks for married people/civil partners
Couples' discounts, e.g. holidays, visiting places

The list goes on.

One of my friends is recently separated, after quite a long time married, and we were talking about 'single' finances. 'How do you live on this?' she said. She simply had no conception of how much more it costs to be single.

And don't get me started on politicians' "Hard working families". Grrrr.

People who don't have children still expect a person younger than them, that someone else has raised, to feed and wash them in their dotage... so unless childfree people plan to head to Digitas as soon as their faculties start to go, the least they can do is contribute to childcare with their taxes.

Bingo!

Skimming through just waiting for this little gem from the terminally dim.

I’d vote against it. I already feel that personally we get very little back for what it costs each month and we have to pay additional for a garden bin which they then sell on for compost.

I don’t think anyone would argue with a fairer tax than what council tax currently is!

And you don’t think attitudes may have moved on in the last 30+ years?

No way would any government go back to poll tax , it finished Maggie's career .

Well aware thanks. I said I had deja vu. Op said i didn't. I pointed out that I did. Almost word for word for the first few posts.

Trust me I'm never shocked at how often a topic is posted. 16 years of "there was a car in the parent space and they didn't have a child"

Except you csnt guarantee that help will be there, you could end up divorced your partner could pass away, you children live abroad or too far to provide daily help. Even if they live close they might not be able to help.

You health and care needs might be more than your partner can manage, when you are old yourself will you be able to pick up your partner of they fell over etc.

What if you both have health issues at the same time and need help...

It's easy to say oh but there will be help at home by partners and children until u get there and it's more complicated then that

Well that’s it isn’t it. People living with more per house are less likely to use the at home social care that’s funded via council tax as they have help at home. To their portion of council tax is actually paying for those who require the social care aspect yet get a 25% discount.

To then charge say per person would then mean a multi adult household paying even more despite again being less likely to need adult social care in the home vs again the single person.

That’s why I would all social care should be centralised though good way to get people fighting against each other currently. With the whole well I don’t need it yet most of mine goes on x y z while bins over flow and pot holes cover the roads.

MN has thousands of users. New posters joining every day. Is it beyond you to see that more than one person might have a view on single people and council tax?!

The same topics get posted repeatedly eg dogs, tories, parking, cost of renting etc. Don’t be so shocked in future if a subject gets posted twice!

It's unfair and even the government has said it is and looking to change it back to the old poll tax system where each individual of adult age in the property is taxed, they are currently looking at this at the moment and it should be changed as its so out of date.

Wait, living alone is "hoarding" resources?

It is the property that takes up land, not the person in the property. I live alone in a 3 bedroom house. There is only one light on at a time (the room I am in). If someone else lived with me, then more energy will be used... unless you insist that we are constantly only ever in the same room together 😆

Letmeknow!1

In the days where council tax covered mainly stuff like bin collection I'd probably have disagreed with you.

But it is mainly now the only property tax, and is essentially an overhead to cover the costs of elderly and vulnerable adult and children's social care.

I'm not sure how these could be fairly allocated. In theory if you're single you may be more likely to incur adult social care costs but less likely to need child social care?

All taxes are inequitable from someone's perspective. As the only tax on property ownership and use, council tax is pretty cheap by international standards. The fact that it's used on those items is pretty random and an accident of history not design.

Totally agree.

You’re absolutely right

Single people should definitely have 50% off. You could also have 3 or more people sharing the council tax, not just 2.

Fair enough that bills are more of a stretch. But single people shouldn't pay more tax than married people. That's just daft.