Council tax question - when to pay

[CourtneeLuv]

If my payment date is the 25th, do I have til the end if the month, or 25th of August to pay it, or does it have to be paid today?

Tia

Do they not collect it by DD? I'd say it needs to be paid today.

I'd say its to be paid/in their account by the 25th. Do you not have a direct debit set up for it?

My council doesn't seem to care when it's paid so long as it's paid in the month it's due. I can't imagine they'd do anything so long as it's there by the end of the month (and even if it isn't, so long as you can pay two months instalments in one they should be fine).

I pay by direct debit but I think my council have about 3 collection dates to cover when people's wages will be going in.

Your council tax bill will tell you the exact dates and those are the dates by which the council must receive the money.
They’re allowed to send you a reminder the day after the instalment was due but I’ve never heard of any doing it so quickly.
I’d just give them a ring. If it’s due by today and you can’t afford it, ask if they can spread your instalments over a longer period.

I pay mine whenever I can random days of the month and sometimes I’ve been like a month late if I had a bad month and nothings ever happened

reckon depends how busy your council is and whether they have time / people to flag it quick enough to come after you for a few days late or whatever

No I don't pay by dd.

I assumed any late payments would be flagged automatically by the system.

I can pay it but forgot about it until tonight. My dh reckons I've got a month to pay it but I always pay it on the 25th.

How do you normally pay it?
I wouldn't wait a month as then you could easily end up in arrears

Council tax is one of the most ruthless in terms of late payments. I'd say pay it ASAP or, even better, set it up via dd.

I do it online. I just paid it.

It should be credited to your account by the due date. You probably have about a week to pay after the date it's due. Most councils I've worked for send reminders from when payments are about 10 days late depending on the remainder run dates.

@CourtneeLuv I used to work in council tax a very long time ago. Reminders for non-payment were set for 10 days at our council. Ring them and tell them when you will make the payment and then they can put a note on the system which can help in the event of a reminder, they can quash it but they have to have very good reason.

Be careful pushing back payments as you can end up being asked to pay the entire year in full. This isn't something that you can sort out very easily, the council's hands are tied. This is tax, government tax collected at a local level which is why all the info about payments are on the .gov website. Here is the bit about reminders, my bit has been added in square brackets.

www.gov.uk/council-tax-arrears

"Your council will send you a reminder notice giving you 7 days to pay if you miss a payment. If you don’t pay within 7 days, you’ll have to pay the whole year’s Council Tax instead. [if you make the payment you are back in the clear but be aware...]

You’ll be sent a second reminder notice if you miss another Council Tax payment. [this means if you miss another month's payment, not a second reminder following a first reminder, the whole year is due after that first reminder, see below]

You’ll only get a maximum of 2 reminder notices in a financial year - this runs from April 1 to March 31 of the next year. [a reminder, or a second reminder which is for a different payment, if you fail to make that payment after the reminder then the whole year is due]

If you are having difficulty paying your council tax at any stage ring them, pay something. If it goes to court, it isn't something you get to argue, it is literally them getting confirmation that you are liable for the council tax (liability order) and then they have powers to collect the money directly from your salary as a first step. Please don't let it get that far.

And no you categorically do not have a month's grace. Your Dh is very wrong.

Even though this is collected by the council it is covered by legislation and so the council have limited ability to be lenient. That isn't to say we didn't bend over backwards to accommodate people because we did but we have to work within the limits. We basically advise people to pay their mortgage/rent and then us before utility companies because the council has far more power and take more, legislation saw to it that we do.

If it ever gets to an attachment of earnings order where they take it from your salary then the amount is set in stone as a percentage. This is the first google search for me on it, have a look at the percentages. I know you are not near that stage at all but it is good to know what they can do and why you ring them when in difficulty. This is for anyone reading this thread, especially now when times are very hard.

www.northampton.gov.uk/info/200028/council-tax/996/council-tax-attachment-of-earnings

Thank you, that's very informative.