If your wage varies every month does your council tax too?

[ConfusedVyThis2]

My DP was earning £700 per month and our council tax from that was £128 ( we also claim UC )

Due to COVID his hours have been up and down and his wage has varied from £600 to £800, our council tax is always £128.

Is this right? Does it stay the same throughout the year or will his lower wagss makes make our bill lower? His wage was £600 this month and £128 out of it makes a big difference this month.

Yes, that's right. It's not wage based. You owe the council whatever they charge

Council tax is based on the tax band of your house and not your income.. It is the same every month.

Council tax is based on the value of your home not your earnings.

I find it felt weird that night adult doesn’t know why council tax is. Do you not receive a bill every March detailing the upcoming year’s payments and what it will be going towards (police, fire etc)?

God sorry about those autocorrects!

Have you claimed for a council tax reduction due to low income? I think it needs to be claimed for separately via your council.

Council tax is calculated by a tax band according to where your house is. It doesn't change and you can not get a discount unless you live alone.

When you're on a low wage, you get a council tax reduction.

I don't know how it all works exactly as I don't qualify for the discount. However, a friend does, but he loses the discount on & off.

Your council tax is a set amount for the property you are in, but some people are entitled to discounts & it sounds like you must be dipping in & out of entitlements.

You could call your council and ask for the details (it will very council by council I assume) & unless you're in arrears it's normally paid over 10 months so you get two months without a bill (can't remember now, but Jan & Feb I think)

Council tax has nothing to do with your income, it’s what band your home is in, based on how much it’s worth (or actually how much it was worth in 1994, odd system) but either way, no it doesn’t change when you earn more or less

Or maybe you can get a discount if you earn a low wage? Maybe ring the council and ask.

Council tax is always the same.

Why would you have to pay less just because your wage has gone down?

Shouldn't your universal credit be higher in the months that his wages are lower?

Won't cover all the gap but will cover some of it.

If you pay your council tax over 10 months it might help to switch to 12, you don't get the free months but it's a bit lower every month.

Would it also be possible to put some money aside in the months he earns more, to cover the gap on those where he earns less?

There's also a savings account called help to save where you can get a government top up, so that might be worth looking into.

Council tax is an annual amount. You can split the cost over 10 or 12 months. If you are the only eligible adult in the household you can get a reduction (so students for example don't count). It isn't income based, strictly - each property is assessed as being in a particular council tax band based on the value of the property, so if you buy a cheap house you should pay less council tax. I think they start with band D as average, and work it out from there. The amount is set by the council so a band d house in your borough should attract the same rate as another band d house in your borough, but not the same as a band d house in the next borough over.

Have you applied for Council tax benefit? £128 is a lot to pay from £600/£800 per month.

A quick look on the yougov website suggests that you can apply for a council tax reduction based on particular benefits and also your level of income - so long as you don't have significant savings.

Thank you for the replies - I didnt know I could apply for a reduction ( I thought they calculated anything like that for you ) Before DP moved in I was claiming UC alone and my council tax was £32 a month. The house i was in before this it was £17 a month ( 3 streets away! ) So I assumed the lower your wage or income the lower the council tax bill

Your Council Tax payments would only change if you are claiming Council Tax Reduction.

If you receive Council Tax Reduction and receive Universal Credit also then the DWP would automatically report your UC monthly amount to the Council and they would adjust your Council Tax Reduction and your Council Tax Bill accordingly.

However just because you receive Universal Credit you don't automatically receive Council Tax Reduction, it's means tested based on your UC award.

God ours is £1600 a year and we’re only band C.

@ConfusedVyThis2 you get a reduction for being a single person, you were probably getting that before. You can apply for council tax help if you’re on a low income but council tax in general is not based on your income

or actually how much it was worth in 1994 It was 1992, as CTax came in, iirc in April 1993, and was governed by the LGFA 1992.

You get a discount on council tax for being a single adult household.

But it doesn’t sound right that you paid £32 before and not £128.

So you must have also been eligible for Council Tax Reduction as part of your UC.

And now it sounds like with your DP moving in you’ve lost both parts.

A single person reduction only amounts to a 25% drop, that alone wouldn't have explained the low rate of £32 that the op previously paid.

£32 a month!

Fucking hell OP, I'd not be complaining if I were you.

And 'they' do not generally do all your financial planning for you. Adult people have to sort out all that shit themselves.

You don't automatically get a reduction for low wage.

My council tax was 1/4 of my entire wages for the longest time. But, because I wasn't entitled to any benefits, I had to pay the whole thing. Despite earning less than £600 a month. Those were fairly desperate times.

Council tax doesn't change monthly, it's the same every month but you should get council tax support if you're on UC if you earn below a certain amount.

My Council Tax was reduced from £130pm to £30pm because I am on UC then to £13pm because of a Covid relief scheme my council are doing.

Maybe ring your council tax department and see if you're entitled to anything