Guide About Council Tax Reduction

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3. Council Tax Reduction for working age people

Working Age Council Tax Reduction (CTR) is an income banded scheme based on what is coming in to your household. This is applied as a discount on your Council Tax. If you are awarded CTR and/or have any changes throughout the year your Council Tax bill will show the income band you qualify for.

Working age applicants could receive up to 100% of their Council Tax charge. The table below shows the income bands and the maximum amount that your Council Tax will be reduced by. with effect from 1 April 2024.

Band

Discount

Passported

Single
(no dependent)

(weekly net income)

Couple
(no dependent)

(weekly net income)

Family with one dependent

(weekly net income)

Family with two or more dependents (weekly
net income)

1*

 100% Relevant
Benefit		 £0 - £92 £0 - £133 £0 - £204 £0 - £275

2 

 80% N/A £92.01 - £163 £133.01 - £204 £204.01 - £281 £275.01 - £352

3 

 55% N/A £163.01 - £240 £204.01 - £270 £281.01 - £347 £352.01 - £418

4 

 25% N/A £240.01 - £316 £271.01 - £337 £347.01 - £413 £418.01 - £485

5

  0% N/A Over £316 Over £337 Over £413 Over £485

The basics of the CTR working-age scheme are:

  • CTR must be applied for and is not automatically granted.
  • Applicants will receive a discount of 100%, 80%, 55%, 25% or no discount, depending on the level of household income.
  • Those receiving a passported benefit - i.e. Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance (income-based) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) (income-related) will automatically be placed into Band 1 (100% discount).
  • Applicants with savings above £6,000 will not qualify.
  • Examples of income are earnings, self-employed earnings, tax credits, pensions, student grants/loans, Jobseeker's Allowance (contributions-based), Employment and Support Allowance (contributions-based).
  • Net weekly income from earnings is gross earnings minus Income Tax, National Insurance, any personal pension and a £25 per week earnings disregard.
  • Income from Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments, Armed Forces Independent Payments, Child Benefit, Child Maintenance and War Disablement Benefits, Carers Allowance and the support component from ESA are not counted as income.
  • Extra amounts may be disregarded from your income. These can be found in our policy.
  • The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) applies to most self-employed claims. This means that if you have been self-employed for 12 months or longer, your earnings are calculated using the National Minimum Wage for your age group, multiplied by 35 hours or16 hours. If you earn more than this amount we will use your actual amount of earnings.
  • The maximum Council Tax Reduction can be backdated is 12 months.