Your Council Tax

Council Tax is charged on all domestic properties in England and Wales. One Council Tax bill is issued to each property whether it is occupied or not.

We work out who is liable to pay the property’s Council Tax by using a ‘hierarchy of liability’.  To find out who is liable to pay Council Tax in your property, read the following list. As soon as you reach a description that applies to you or someone else in your home, you will have found the person (or persons) liable to pay Council Tax:

1. you own and live in the property - this means you may be the leaseholder, freeholder or landowner
2. you rent the property
3. you rent the property but do not have a formal agreement in place to stay there, though you do have permission
4. you live in the property, but do not have a formal agreement in place to stay there - for example, you may be squatting
5. you own a property which no one lives in

Spouses and partners who live together are jointly responsible for paying Council Tax, even if there is only one name on the bill.

Sometimes the owner of a property will have to pay instead of the person who lives there. The owner is liable to pay if:

• all residents who live in the property are under 18 years old
• the property is home to asylum seekers
• the residents are staying in the property temporarily and their main home is somewhere else
• the property is a registered care home, hospital, hostel or women's refuge
• the property is a House in Multiple Occupation - for example, a property where residents have separate tenancies or licences and only occupy or pay rent for part of the property (e.g. a bedsit with shared facilities)

If you are unsure about whether you should be paying Council Tax you can find out online.

Find out if you’re liable to pay Council Tax

If you are paying Council Tax and think the bill is incorrect or that the owner of the property should pay instead, email us. Make sure the subject of your email includes your Council Tax number inside angled brackets, for example <XXXXXXXXX>.