Council tax rebate, what’s going on?

[Kanfuzed123]

Exactly that, what’s going on with it? Do you have to apply? I thought it was automatic. We live in a band d property and all we’ve seen is an increase! Not a whiff of this £150 rebate- what gives?

People on UC DO pay Council Tax in my area, Kent, but at a reduced rate. I was on UC for a while last year following redundancy but still had to pay 50%.

@CantChooseANameAgain

Does anyone know what happens if you move house? I'm due to move from a band D to a band E property around 1st April and I'm not sure whether I'm eligible or not. A rebate implies it's based on 2021-22 but I'm really not sure.

The eligibility date is 1 April, so it's where you are on that date, from my reading of it.

You have to apply. Read the new council tax statement. They don't do it automatically in the hope you won't apply and they keep the money. I didn't even know about it luckily DH did

@inheritancetrack

You have to apply. Read the new council tax statement. They don't do it automatically in the hope you won't apply and they keep the money. I didn't even know about it luckily DH did

No you don't, @inheritancetrack. If you pay by DD, it's automatic. If you don't, you have to apply.

As others have said this is nothing whatsoever to do with council tax. For example if you are in council tax arrears you will still get the payment if eligible.

The government are using councils to pay the £150 over because they already hold some relevant information because they collect council tax from households and therefore have some peoples' bank details.

Eligibility is based on the band of your property on 1st April.

Got sent this via email with my council tax bill. England

I’m in Scotland, the £150 has been reduced from my bill from the year so I’ll pay £1.50 a week less than I was. I’d rather have had the lump sum to be honest as ungrateful as that sounds 🤷‍♀️

Scotland have their own rebate scheme so the approach may be different

Yeah don't understand why Scotland have done it differently. That money is supposed to ease gas and electric increases. People may prefer the lump.

@gamerchick this was my thought as well, I would have used the 150 to pay towards my energy costs, £1.50 a week isn’t going to help as it’ll be absorbed elsewhere realistically

@DaisyChain16

Still makes me laugh how people complain about paying more council tax but can't see any correlation to the last 12 years of austerity under the Tories. Your council have to fund their services and as the government gives them less you have to pay more - it's like the responsibility they've lumped on them to collect the adult social care precept. Council tax is regressive imho but that's a whole different argument. If you want good services you have to pay for them - but no one wants to pay more tax. We need to increase the tax contribution of the wealthiest 1%

I'm always banging on about this. It's very cunning on the part of the govt to disguise the spending cut in a way that councils will get the blame.

People really do need to understand that this is down to central govt, not local govt.

@BritishDesiGirl

Council tax up 7% where l am.

Nearly 10% here, up £191 from £1946, for a band C property. (That's before deducting the 25% discount for being a single occupier).

The £150 will just about cover the council tax increase after my 25% discount.

Ours said it would be paid direct to bank account in October.

I’ve not heard of this but it’s only for employed people so it doesn’t help many

@mrsfollowill

Plenty of people pay no council tax at all. The entire bill is covered by Council Tax support- these are generally people on full Universal Credit with no earnings at all or pensioners on Guaranteed Pension Credit. The £150 will be paid as a credit to people who are in bands A-D and pay by Direct Debit- it is not means tested at all! If you are band E + you are considered 'well off' and in no need but there will a discretionary scheme apparently. Parliament announce things but the people who need to administer it get no advance knowledge/warning- just have to try and sort it out and field calls from angry taxpayers who call up shouting Boris said they will £150 off their bill. Instantly by all accounts. Such a joy working with public!

That's simply not true for working age people. Council tax benefit was abolished nearly 10 years ago, and local authorities were left to decide on their own schemes. Many decided on schemes that were far less generous. (Their schemes for pension age people had to be at least as generous as the national council tax benefit had been).

In all of my county, and the two neighbouring ones, even the poorest pay 20% of their council tax.

With a band C property here incurring council tax of over £2k, that's £400 a year that some of the very poorest people are having to find, on top of rising energy bills and, if they're renting privately, even bigger contributions to their rent because of the 3-year freeze on local housing allowances and rent inflation.

@MrsPear it’s not only for employed people.
I think that it being referred to as a council tax rebate is confusing.
Even if your whole council tax bill is covered by council tax support you will still get it. As long as you are in Band A to D.
It’s not a reduction on the council tax bill (in England). It will be a payment.
It’s being administered by local councils simply because the government isn’t capable of doing it efficiently themselves.
As a previous poster said, the councils found out about this at the same time as everyone else.
If you pay by DD then the council has your bank details and will simply pay the money into your account.
If you don’t pay by DD then councils will let people know how to apply.

@Yants

Is this rebate nationwide or just England? Not heard any mention at all of it for Wales.

@Yants yes it's happening in Wales too

I’m in Scotland, band D and my bill has come in today. There is a £150.00 credit in the breakdown which reduces the overall balance.

I'm in Scotland, £150 reduction in April's payment.

@Almostlegible thank you. H is self employed and we are not eligible for state assistance; according to my local council that means zero money. I’ll have to ring and ask why.

@mrspear if you are band A-D you get it. If you are above that you won't.

We are band d but the information provided by our local council says rebate for people who are on assistance or people who are employed. We are neither. So we will have to ring and ask if we want the money. H pointed out it will probably cost that amount to call 🤣

I haven't had my rates bill yet, but my understanding is that the £150 will be paid as a separate amount into your bank account if you pay by dd and are in bands A-D. If you don't pay by dd you have to request a cheque. I expect the reason it's been done this way is that council systems are set up to adjust council tax by 25% for one person, or students and calculating any reductions due to council benefit

Just got my bill for next year and wondered how I’d already managed to pay £150. At least now I’m no longer scratching my head!

@MrsPear you will definitely get it if you are in England and a Band D.
It’s not going to be means tested or based on employment status and this is set in stone under the government scheme. Councils don’t decide.
Having said that, there is also going to be a discretionary scheme where councils will receive a bit of money they can target towards people who aren’t in Band A to D.
Keep an eye on your council’s website if you don’t pay by DD and they’ll explain what to do (once they’ve worked out the logistics themselves - not straightforward).
If you pay by DD then the £150 will go straight into the bank account that pays the DD.