I HATE paying Council Tax. It's the bill I hate the most.

[flashbac]

Council Tax is regressive and unfair.

It takes more money from lower income individuals.

It has no link to the actual value of a property.

In addition to linking council tax to value, the bands also need to increase in range in order to reflect the vast difference in property values.

How can it be right that a million pound property in Westminster is the same or (often lower) CT rate than a 2 up, 2 down house in Yorkshire?

@Hollyhead

Surely it would be more efficient to just increase the rate of income tax? So much money must get spent administering council tax!

I agree. Lots of older people live in homes they bought when they were earning, and live on much reduced incomes in retirement, yet unless they are actually on benefits (or not far off) they still have the same level of council tax.

@Hollyhead - the issue with any sort of income tax or personal tax is many circumvent it by paying themselves in dividends and there's then no incentive to ensure property is let or sold. And how do you deal with holiday let's?

If a couple are in a big house and no longer need that size of property they can always cash in and downsize.

Dividends aren’t very tax efficient any more though are they? Maybe a holiday home tax would be fairer? So you have to register a hone that’s not a main residence and then you’d get a bill?

@Hollyhead

Dividends aren’t very tax efficient any more though are they? Maybe a holiday home tax would be fairer? So you have to register a hone that’s not a main residence and then you’d get a bill?

For small business owners dividends are still the way they do it. Holiday homes, Yes I can see the owners queue up at the local council office to register for their tax, the same with landlords between tenants they'll be racing down to tell the council the tenants have moved out and they need to pay tax.

@Lockdownbear

If a couple are in a big house and no longer need that size of property they can always cash in and downsize.

Yes. I am hoping to buy something smaller and easier to look after. These things take time, though, I love where I live, it's private and I have always felt safe here. I'd have to be sure, or as sure as one can be, that wherever I moved had a similar vibe. I did see one place which would have been perfect but it was suddenly taken off the market, bah.

In the meantime I am happy to pay my current level of council tax.

@Yogsgirl

This thread is just going round in circles.

Some people don't understand how taxes work and there are more people than I realised only willing to put in what they directly take out.

I would say that there is a different issue, that many on here think that they should pay less, where as "someone else" or "other people" should pay more. I have multiple times said that I am willing to pay more in taxes, but also that the Council Tax system, being linked to property value does not make sense.

We should all be paying more taxes, that would help us build a better country and society, that means everyone contributing more.

@Hollyhead

Dividends aren’t very tax efficient any more though are they? Maybe a holiday home tax would be fairer? So you have to register a hone that’s not a main residence and then you’d get a bill?

You are correct. If you factor in the Corporation Tax 19% (rising to 25% in a few years) first, then dividend are marginally more tax efficient for low earners, slightly less efficient than PAYE for higher rate payers and less efficient for additional rate payers. They do however offer greater flexibility and especially distribution over time, not just in one year.

Do you know that councils create their own court summonses? Completely illegal.

How can we pay council tax? The answer is you can't. You have nothing with which to pay.
You have to read a bank note first; Written on the note is a promise to pay. This makes it a promise to pay for something at a later date. An IOU. Cash is an IOU. Lord Denning repeatedly said in the courts of appeal in 1969" that all IOUs must be treated as cash." All forms of payment are classed as cash.

The council maggots use the local government finance act 1992 to steal your earnings, not your income as only corporations earn income, so why not use the local government finance act 1888 (79) (2)part5 where all the duties and liabilities of the inhabitants the county shall become the duties and liabilities of the council of that county.

Move to Ireland. No council tax although we do pay the universal social charge plus what feels like a helluva lot of other tax.

How can it be right that a million pound property in Westminster is the same or (often lower) CT rate than a 2 up, 2 down house in Yorkshire?

It isn't right, OP, but it's mostly to do with the formula used by the government to decide how much money councils need. It fails to adequately reflect that delivering services in a sparsely populated area is a lot more expensive than in a densely populated one.

Rural areas will need more schools, libraries, fire stations etc, than a densely populated area (and will have more children needing free school transport), the bin lorries will have to travel much further to serve the same number of homes, they will have to spend more on maintaining roads, because there will be many miles more of them and so on. Housing officers and social workers will have to travel more miles and spend more time travelling than those who work in a smaller, densely populated area, so they need more of them to serve the same population. And if, like me, you live in an area that has 2-tier local government, you will be paying 2 lots of central costs, for 2 lots of council offices, 2 lots of councillors.

The council tax where I live is the 4th highest in the country (down from second last year). It's over £250 a year more than my previous house in Croydon, despite being in the same band.

I hate the water rates. I mean I pay it and everything but I resent paying for something that falls from the sky.

Why not get disconnected from the mains and put a few buckets out then?

Your council tax is the same as mine, but I pay £39 a month on top of that for water, in a small 2-bed house.

Stupid things push the band up, like having a view.

We're entitled to a discount which they haven't yet implement (they've had the forms for 4 months).

It's all a scam.

If you're on means tested benefits, you get a reduction. Here, you pay 20%, in the neighbouring city, you wouldn't pay any.

There used to be a national "council tax benefit", now councils run their own schemes (in England at least, may be differen in the other parts).

They're "council officers" - councillors are the ones you vote for every 4 years!