Council tax lower than last year

[Charlottle]

Hi all. Just looking for some clarification as I’m confused and know I’m probably missing something but can’t figure it out. We moved to our rental flat in August 2021, were sent out council tax bill and have been paying by direct debit since then. The other day we received our 2022-2023 council tax bill and it is showing the payments for the new year as being lower than than last year, despite showing the % increase for each section etc.

To cut a long story short, we’ve been paying £162 per month and it is now going to be £127 per month. The band is showing as the same and there has been no change in our circumstances. Can anyone shed any light and help me get my head around this please?

@OnTheBenchOfDoom

Council Tax is paid over 10 months from April to Jan with no payments due in February or March. However, it can run into Feb/Mar if a person moves in half way through the year. Weekly payments are over 40 weeks as standard. Any deviation from these plans are not standard and have to be agreed with the council.

Depending on when you started paying the council tax for last year may mean that your payments were higher. Bills are processed after the date someone moves in (often we were told in advance) and depending on how long it takes to action the bill will determine how many payments are left before the next bill is issued.

The reason for the 10 months is it gave us 2 extra months to collect in any monies owed for that financial year. Contact the council and ask for a copy of last years bill. Council tax only ever goes up apart from this years rebate or if any discounts or exemptions are applied which does not seem to be the case here. It is a long time since I did that job in council tax and business rates but not much has changed as it is government legislation. It is a tax collected locally.

Not all councils want payments over 10 months. My council gives you a choice of 10 or 12 payments. I think most councils in my county do this, as does the neighbouring city council.