Council tax very unfair to single people

[Lettuceandtomatoes]

The council tax for my area is £1800 full whack, a single person 25% off. I pay £140 a month which is ok until I realised the three adults next door are paying £60 pounds each and a couple paying £90 each. So why this inequality aimed at single people, picking up the tab?

I was backing your point!

They tried a fairer "per person" tax, aka the poll tax, unfortunately mob rule meant it was abolished.

Thank you 👍

And it's not just tax it's the entire system. If a single person was suddenly made redundant which led to then losing their home they are out on the streets because they are at the bottom of the bottomless waiting list for housing.

There is no extra help or support. Families get help with childcare, housing, tax allowances etc.

Single people has zero safety net and as per usual the response is well shack up with someone or get a lodger from those privileged enough to have met someone they want to be with.

It might as well be for us. Bins and roads are the only services we use.

Many of the services you receive are the same as those received by a household with more adults, and others are scaled down -

• police and fire services
• leisure and recreation projects, such as maintaining parks and sports centres
• libraries and education services
• rubbish and waste collection and disposal
• transport and highway services, including street lighting and cleaning, and road maintenance
• environmental health and trading standards
• administration and record-keeping, such as marriages, deaths and birth, and local elections

all services funded by council tax. Do you suggest that childless people should pay less because they do not use educational services? Or pedestrians because they don’t drive? Or what about the elderly who stay home at night? We all benefit, at some point from some, if not all of these services. If you are concerned that your neighbours accumulate more rubbish than you do, compare this to drinking wine in a bar. It’s cheaper per ml to drink a larger glass of wine, because the cost incurred is not just in the wine itself, but in the server pouring the wine, the waiter carrying it to the table, the person clearing the table and washing the glass, the electricity bill and the business rates etc etc. Similarly, the cost of the rubbish collection is not simply the volume of the rubbish itself, but the wages of the person who pulls the wheelie bin to the truck and returns it, the fuel in the vehicle etc etc.

It's all bollocks. My one bed flat is band d because basically anything built after the original bandings is band d 😒. £200 a month for a one bed flat and "helpful" suggestions on here to take on a lodger if you live in a big band d property. Not a clue.

I think we all knew that already. The post is purely concerning equality for all

So you think people who can't afford their own house or flat and live in a CMO, with say 4 other adults should all pay the same rate as you OP?

Yes exactly. We are all using the same utilities and every adult should be responsible for themselves

I don’t know about the very very dubious assertion that more adults is directly proportional to more fire risk. (Can’t find any evidence to back up that having twice as many people in a uk home means you are twice as likely to have a fire).

However, I do wonder if property tax should be directly proportional to floor space. But no idea how that would work.

I’m against a poll tax. Most people can’t afford to pay for everything they use from the state so I don’t see how everyone paying a flat amount is taking responsibility rather than just putting a bigger burden on the poor.

Hmm that sounds very much like "there's no such thing as society" to me.
And you're not disadvantaged any more than a couple living together are. If 50% is for the property and 50% for the individuals and you pay 75% then you are paying the same as a couple. The only people who are paying less are those in shared housing and most people wouldnt be in shared housing if they were wealthy.

"However, I do wonder if property tax should be directly proportional to floor space."
This sounds fair to me. Although I assume the OP would still be unhappy with that. Some people just don't like to pay tax.

Read my opening post

I did. What's your point?

Which other services do you think you should pay less for @Lettuceandtomatoes ?

Gas and electricity because they're only keeping one person warm? Have you asked Tesco if they'd reduce your bill because you're only feeding one?

As the op I most certainly have no problem paying tax. I’m certainly not unhappy in aspects of my life,I was merely pointing out the inequality in regards to single people

You’re being extremely silly

You’re being extremely silly*
*
You can't answer then

But where is the inequality? That's what I don't understand. You get a discount for the same property that another family/ couple / house share group would have to pay full whack on. Surely the logical equality there would be to remove the discount then? (I'm not saying I want that done btw, just that I don't think your argument makes sense)

Would the poll tax work nowadays ? Well I remember a tory MP, can't remember who it was maybe Malcom Rifkind , lived in a castle was given a smaller Poll Tax bill than our household , that was my mum & dad teenage me my teenage brother .The Poll tax finished Maggie's career and I'm glad it did .I imagine your teenagers getting household bills . Then finding out MP's in castles paid less than your household .

Single healthy adults get treated better than disabled people. I am too disabled to work but as there are two adults in the property we don't get a 25% discount. I am not saying we should my point is single adults get a better deal.

Ok I’m off now. A post stating the obvious failings of council tax towards single people has brought out the complete idiots from the woodwork.
To the intelligent people who actually read my post, thank you and best regards

I agree OP,I'm in a 2 bed house,just my daughter (10) and I,so for those who suggest a lodger where do you suppose I put him/her?,not that I'd have a stranger living with my daughter!.
I get WTC and CTC and no Council Tax 'help' apart from the 25% discount.
I agree it should be a 50% discount.

I think some people just fundamentally disagree with you. I don’t think everyone should pay the same and be responsible for themselves.
I think those with more income &/or wealth should contribute more than those with less.
People have different ideas about what is fair. Do you think everyone regardless of income/assets should make the same tax contribution overall or only when it comes to council tax?