Do you know what Council Tax is? If you don’t, here is a small note for you.

Council tax is a system of local taxation on domestic property collected by local authorities. If you are 18 or over and own or rent a home, then you are required to pay such type of tax. In case if you live on your own and no-else in your home counts as an adult, you will get a discount up to 25%. Alternatively, if no-one living in your home, including you does not count as an adult, a 50% discount will be provided to you. There is also a reduction scheme available for the disabled people.

Each year, every local authority sets a rate of council tax for each valuation band for the domestic properties where a different amount of Council Tax is charged in each band. Such tax bills are usually sent out in April and you are required to pay the bill by splitting into 10 instalments. In case if you have trouble paying such bills, you can ask to pay in 12 instalments instead.

There are some properties that are exempt from Council Tax and do not qualify for this type of tax. They include:

• Condemned property
• Property which has been legally re-possessed by a mortgage lender
• Unoccupied property because the person once living there is living elsewhere now like care home or relatives
• Any property where only students or Foreign Language Assistants on the official British Council programme live in. However, if both students and no-students live in the property, the property is not exempt but any students in the house are disregarded.
• A holiday caravan or boat if it’s on a property where council tax is paid
• A property occupied by people with severe mental impairment only
• A self-contained flat where a dependent relative of the owner of the main property lives in it

If you have such type of property, make sure you consult an expert tax adviser right away.