Council Tax Support

Council Tax Support replaced Council Tax Benefit and Council Tax discounts, exemptions and reductions in April 2013. Some pensioners have been protected but many working age people on benefits have been affected by the change.

Council Tax Support is a local system of help for people who pay Council Tax, and replaced a national system of support for people who couldn’t afford to pay a full Council Tax bill.

From April 2013, local councils introduced their own Council Tax Reduction schemes, deciding which groups of people to help.

Under the previous system, the government paid the bill for Council Tax benefits, discounts, exemptions and reductions. In 2013-14, each council had a pot of money to share out between people who needed help, but the amount of money available to pay for Council Tax Support was cut by 10%. Since 2014-15, there has been no separate allocation for Council Tax Support.