Working Age Council Tax Support Scheme
Working age Council Tax Support scheme from 1 April 2024.
We have changed the way we work out Council Tax Support from 1 April 2024.
If you are in receipt of
- Employment Support Allowance (Income Related)
- Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based)
- Income Support
You are entitled to Council Tax Support of 70% of your Council Tax, less any non-dependant deductions.
If you do not receive one of these benefits, your Council Tax Support is worked out by comparing your weekly income to a range of income bands.
The income bands vary according to the size of your household. Depending on your income and household size, you will receive support of either 70%, 55%, 40%, 25% of your Council Tax, less any non-dependant deductions, or nothing if your income is too high.
More information on our working age scheme.
To work out Council Tax Support, follow these steps.
Step 1 - Income
Firstly, add up your total weekly net income - this could be from
- earnings (less Income Tax, National Insurance and private pension contributions)
- benefits
- pensions
- self-employed income
- Universal Credit income (minus any housing costs), etc.
There are certain incomes we do not take into account
- Child Benefit
- Disability Living Allowance
- Personal Independence Payments
- The Support Component/Work Related Activity Component of Employment and Support Allowance.
We then deduct various amounts from your income, these are called disregards. The amount we deduct will depend on your circumstances.
Earnings Disregards
If you are working, the following disregards will normally apply:
- single person £20
- couple £25
- disabled / Carer / Registered Blind £35
(Only one of the highest above disregards will be awarded)
- child Care Costs Up to £175 for one child or £300 for two (or more) children
- full information on the qualifying conditions for earnings disregards can be found in Annex 2 (Section 2) of our Scheme Rules
Additional Income Disregards
In addition to the above, the following disregards will also be made from any remaining income where appropriate:
- customer, partner and/or child is disabled. - £73.07 per qualifying person
- customer or partner qualifies for Carers Allowance or Carers Element of Universal Credit, or has underlying entitlement - £42.61 per qualifying person
- full information on the qualifying conditions for these disregards can be found in Annex 2 (Section 3) of our Scheme Rules
Step 2 – Income bands
Now work out which set of income bands is applicable to your circumstances. This will depend upon the size of your household and will be one of the following.
- single Person
- couple
- family with 1 Child
- family with 2 Children
- family with 3 Children
- family with 4 or more Children
Step 3 – Work out your Council Tax Support award
Using the Council Tax Support Bands, find your appropriate income band (from Step 2) and compare them to your income (from Step 1). The amount of your Council Tax Support award is then shown on the left-hand side (70%, 55%, 40%, 25% or nil) less any non-dependant deductions.
For example, a single person with an income of £140 a week would receive Council Tax Support of 40% of their Council Tax, less any non-dependant deductions.
Step 4 - Non-Dependant Deductions
We may make a deduction from your Council Tax Support if you have any other adults over the age of 18 (who are not your partner) living in your household. These are called non-dependant deductions.
A deduction of £5 per week will be taken off your Council Tax Support for each non-dependant in your household. However, no deduction is made if you or your partner are registered blind (or treated as blind), or in receipt of:
- attendance Allowance; or
- care Component of Disability Living Allowance; or
- daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payments