Why do tenants have to pay council tax?

[Goodnightseamer]

It's a domestic property tax. But tenants don't own any property, so they're paying tax on something they don't own. They didn't use to have to pay rates, but they have to pay council tax. Why? NB council tax is not a tax for use of services so that argument doesn't wash. It is a tax where liability is created by the existence of a domestic property. Which tenants clearly do not own.

I resent paying the council tax to my council. Bin collectors only round 2 times a month roads crumbling and untouched all year streets dirty and unwashed and full of weeds, and clubs and services cut or even stopped. All the while councillors live it up while the workers are cut or don't get a pay rise and my council tax goes up at least £10 every year. But you have to pay tenants or homeowners as they have you over a barrel, you will go to court or jail even if it is far from value for money.

And we never see a policeman or roadsweep

I can't reply to you because there weren't any full sentences in your post. Unless you really think "no" was sufficient answer.

(That was to @BillHadersNewWife)

Tenants and homeowners have to pay Council Tax. Prior to CT, there was the hated Poll Tax and prior to that were the rates. All these systems have come under fire as being “unfair” or “wrongly targeted”, but what’s the option? Should the UK follow the example of the Channel Islands where everyone - irrespective of their property owning status - pays a form of local income tax for these services? Many would cute that as ‘Poll Tax 2’, where some would see it as a sensible option. Local services have to be paid for, but the contentious points include the waste of resources councils are guilty of: vanity and cosmetic projects, publicity materials, councillors ‘expenses’, to name but a few (I’m sure readers will think of many more). I’m not happy with CT and would prefer a system based on a local income tax, but that’s just my opinion.

I want to know why the single person discount is only 25% rather than 50%. As a single person, surely I use 50% less local services (ie, my bin doesn't need emptying that often), how can I use a quarter less?

It's been explained earlier I think. Something to do with 50% for property and 50% personal part. You get a 50% discount off the personal part so you still pay 75%

Sorry, I hadn't gone through the full thread. I will now, to find out what the reasoning is. It makes a sort of sense...

I still think £168 per month (and that's with the 25% discount) is steep on a NMW job, and one of the reasons I can't afford heating.

£168 with the discount is very high. What area do you live in and what is your CT banding? A late relative of mine lived in the London Borough of Havering and paid £148 (including single person discount) a month over 10 months for a small 2 bedroom bungalow, which was Band E.

North Yorkshire, Joannie455. Big house, cheap rent. I am trying my hardest to move.

Council tax is for a number of services such as police, bin collection etc. I've never heard of it being a property tax. You normally get a booklet with a breakdown of services and the percentage of your tax going to those services

It's a domestic property tax. But tenants don't own any property, so they're paying tax on something they don't own. They didn't use to have to pay rates

It isn't a property tax - it's a tax for local services. The only "property" element is basing it on the value of the property on the assumption that generally the more expensive the property the higher ability to pay.

I don't know what the position previously was for public sector tenants but private tenants very definitely paid the rates on the property they rented.

YBVVVVVVVU! street lights, rubbish collections, recycling
, social services YOU are benefitting from that not your landlord! It’d be like saying that if you are entitles to a Council tax discount your landlord should get it ?? Is this a joke post?

Because the attempt to change over to a much fairer 'Poll tax' - people paying per-head for the services they used - was strenuously resisted. It's about the only thing I agreed with Thatcher about.

Entitled generation in action right there in the op 🙄

Blueeyed - Councils don't only repair the roads and empty the bins they also run a whole raft of services like libraries, education, elderly care, social work etc. etc.

You pay it whether you own the property or not for services supplied by you local council, fire services and police in your local area. Unless you own your property outright with no mortgage outstanding then your technically renting it off the mortgage provider until you have paid back the money you borrowed so we're all in the same boat.

@Goodnightseamer is in denial . . . or stupid. It is what it is.

Where did you get the idea that tenants didn't pay rates? I was a council tenant pre poll tax and council tax, I can assure you I paid rates. Tenants pay council tax because they use the services provided by the councils, education, pavements, police, lighting, cleaning etc. There should be a breakdown of these services on the council tax bill you receive in March.

Some right thick cuts on here. Pay your way and sit down.

@Goodnightseamer - what do YOU think Council tax revenue pays for?

I agree with the vast majority on here that council tax revenues part-funds local services that we all need and use to some extent. You keep saying it is a tax, not purchase monies, as if this means something, which it really doesn’t. Council tax goes into the pot from which essential services are funded. If no council tax was gathered, that percentage of the council spending budget would still have to be funded from elsewhere - and given that there is no magic money tree, it would come from central government, from taxation. We would still end up paying for it.

It's a Services Tax ....Tenants use the local roads, have their rubbish bins collected, call on the local police when they need to.

All the local services have to be paid for by the people that use them, not a landlord who doesn't.

Everyone pays council tax to their local council for services. Previous posters have explained in full but you don't seem to be listening . Discounts can be given if you feel you cannot pay due to limited income but you will need to submit income details to apply for this

Its for council services: schools, cleansing, street lighting, bin collection etc

Where on earth did you get the idea that council tax doesn't pay for your local services? It pays for things like bin collections, street lighting, parks, maintenance of roads, local libraries, local recycling centres, road cleaning …. the list is endless.

And even if you're renting you're still using those services.