What is Council Tax Benefit?

Council Tax Benefit is a Government scheme to help people pay their council tax if they are on a low income or get some state benefits:

  • People on income-based Jobseekers’ Allowance, Income Support or Passported Pension Credit, will not normally pay Council Tax if they make a claim for Council Tax Benefit, unless they have other adults living with them
  • People on low incomes will have their bills reduced

In some cases, you can have your bill reduced, regardless of your own circumstances (including earnings and savings) if someone else who lives with you gets certain benefits or is on a low income. This is called Second Adult Rebate

How is it paid?

Your Council Tax Benefit is automatically taken off your Council Tax bill, and any Council Tax payments may be reduced accordingly.

» More about how we pay benefits

Who can claim?

You can claim Council Tax Benefit if you are the person (or one of the people) who is responsible for paying the Council Tax on your home.

How to apply for Council Tax Benefit

Civil Partnerships and Same Sex Couples

On 5th December 2005, the Civil Partnership Act came into force, giving legal recognition to same sex couples.

For Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit purposes, this means that same sex couples who are living together in a Civil Partnership, or who are living together as if they were in a Civil Partnership, must now claim these benefits jointly. We will assess your claim based on your joint income and circumstances.

If this applies to your claim, please complete all the details for you and your partner on these forms. In addition, if you get housing benefit or council tax benefit but then start living with someone as a couple at a later date, you must tell us about the change.  

Main Council Tax Benefit

This is paid to people on benefit or a low income, who are responsible for paying the Council Tax. If you are in receipt of income based Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support or Passported Pension Credit you will not have to pay Council Tax if you make a claim for benefit. However, your benefit may be reduced if you have other adults sharing your home.

The amount of benefit you can get also depends on how much money you have coming in, the amount of Council Tax you have to pay, the amount of money you need to live on and whether other adults share your home.

You cannot normally get main Council Tax Benefit if you have savings of £16,000 or more, but some pensioners are excluded from this rule. Please contact the Revenues and Benefits Service for more details.

Second Adult Rebate

Even if you are not on a low income, you can claim second adult rebate if you are responsible for the Council Tax and you share your home with one or more adults who are:

  • over 18 and not paying you rent; and
  • not your spouse or partner, and
  • they are not responsible for paying the Council Tax, and
  • they get certain benefits such as job seekers allowance or income support, or they are on a low income.

Your own income and savings are not taken into account.

You could get up to 25% off your Council Tax bill.

Second Adult Rebate can only be paid if the circumstances described above apply and you are the only person who is responsible for paying the Council Tax (unless the other responsible person(s) is/are not counted for Council Tax purposes).

Start date and backdating

Your entitlement will usually start from the Monday after we receive your form, or after you first contacted us asking to claim (but you must get your completed form to us within a month of contacting us).

If you delay, you may receive less money. So if you think you might be entitled to benefit, please make a claim as soon as possible so you don't lose out.

Backdating

Sometimes we can pay benefit from an earlier date if you have continuous good reason for not claiming earlier. If you want us to consider paying your benefit from an earlier date, tell us when you want benefit paid from and why you did not claim earlier.

Excess (or Overpaid) Council Tax Benefit

If you are paid too much Council Tax Benefit (CTB), it is called Excess Benefit. If Excess Benefit occurs, we will write and tell you. The letter will explain:

  • why we gave you too much benefit
  • how much the amount of excess benefit is
  • if you have to pay back the amount
  • how you can appeal if you think this is wrong

In most cases, this will change the amount of Council Tax you have to pay. If so, we will send you a revised Council Tax bill showing your new payments.