UK Council Tax Calculator 2026/27: Bands A to H (and I in Wales)

UK Council Tax Calculator 2026/27

Calculate Council Tax by band and local authority across England, Scotland, and Wales. Bands A to H in England and Scotland, A to I in Wales. Includes the 25% single-person discount, full student exemption, severely mentally impaired disregard, and 10 or 12 instalment splits. Northern Ireland uses Domestic Rates and is not covered here. Verified against gov.uk Council Tax, gov.scot, and gov.wales.

Per-band breakdown for Birmingham

Statutory band ratios applied to the published 2025/26 Band D rate of £2,061 (inclusive of all precepts). Change LA in the calculator above to update.

Band	Ratio	Annual	Monthly (10)	Monthly (12)
A	0.667 (6/9)	£1,374	£137	£115
B	0.778 (7/9)	£1,603	£160	£134
C	0.889 (8/9)	£1,832	£183	£153
D	1.000 (9/9)	£2,061	£206	£172
E	1.222 (11/9)	£2,519	£252	£210
F	1.444 (13/9)	£2,977	£298	£248
G	1.667 (15/9)	£3,435	£344	£286
H	2.000 (18/9)	£4,122	£412	£344

What is Council Tax?

Council Tax is the UK’s local property tax. It funds the bulk of council services - waste collection, social care, libraries, planning, parks - alongside the police, the fire service, and (in two-tier areas) the county council. Every domestic dwelling in England, Scotland, and Wales sits in a “band” set by the relevant valuation authority, and each band pays a fixed ratio of the local Band D rate. Northern Ireland is the exception: it uses Domestic Rates (a percentage of capital value) instead.

The bill is paid by the occupier of the property - usually the resident, but in some cases (HMOs, properties undergoing major works, or empty homes after a grace period) the owner is liable. The bill year runs 1 April to 31 March and most councils default to 10 monthly instalments running April to January, with February and March payment-free. Since 2013 every English and Welsh billing authority must offer 12 instalments on request, which spreads payments evenly across the year at the cost of slightly less spare cash in February and March.

How the banding system works

A property’s band is set by:

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales.
The Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland.

The reference date matters:

England and Scotland use property values as at 1 April 1991 - the last England-wide revaluation. A house built in 2024 is still banded against what it would have sold for in 1991, by analogy with comparable older stock.
Wales rebanded in 2003, so Welsh values are as at 1 April 2003 and the system has an extra Band I for the most valuable properties.

The statutory band ratios as ninths of Band D are:

Band	Ratio (× Band D)	England / Scotland 1991 value	Wales 2003 value
A	6/9 (66.7%)	Up to £40,000	Up to £44,000
B	7/9 (77.8%)	£40,001 to £52,000	£44,001 to £65,000
C	8/9 (88.9%)	£52,001 to £68,000	£65,001 to £91,000
D	9/9 (100%)	£68,001 to £88,000	£91,001 to £123,000
E	11/9 (122.2%)	£88,001 to £120,000	£123,001 to £162,000
F	13/9 (144.4%)	£120,001 to £160,000	£162,001 to £223,000
G	15/9 (166.7%)	£160,001 to £320,000	£223,001 to £324,000
H	18/9 (200%)	Above £320,000	£324,001 to £424,000
I	21/9 (233.3%)	(no Band I in England / Scotland)	Above £424,000

A Band H property pays exactly 3× a Band A property in the same local authority. A Welsh Band I home pays 3.5× a Band A home. The ratios are statutory and never change between LAs; only the Band D rate varies.

Precepts: what is actually in the bill

The published “Band D rate” your council quotes is the sum of several precepts:

Billing authority - your district council (two-tier) or unitary / metropolitan / London borough council (single-tier). Funds local services like waste collection, planning, environmental health, and council housing.
County council (two-tier areas only) - typically the largest single precept. Funds adult and children’s social care, education, transport, and trading standards.
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) - police precept. Same rate across the whole police force area.
Fire and Rescue - either a standalone fire authority precept or bundled into the county / unitary rate.
Parish or town council - small additional precept for parish-level services where applicable (England and Wales).
Greater London Authority (GLA) - London only. Replaces the standalone police and fire precepts and is the same across all 32 boroughs and the City.

Two-tier counties (Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Essex, etc.) typically see the county council take 70 to 80% of the bill, the district 10 to 20%, the PCC about 10%, and fire 2 to 5%. Single-tier areas show a single billing authority precept plus separate police and fire (or GLA in London) lines. The calculator on this page uses the full Band D rate inclusive of every precept that appears on a resident’s bill - so the figure you see is what is actually charged, not just the council’s own share.

Discounts and disregards

The default position is that every adult (18 or over) at a property counts. Discounts reduce the bill where:

Single Person Discount (SPD) - one adult only at the property. 25% off the gross bill. Apply through the billing authority; renewal is usually annual.
All-student household - 100% exemption. Every adult must be a full-time student on a course of at least one academic year and 21+ hours per week of study.
Severely mentally impaired (SMI) disregard - the SMI person is removed from the adult count. Needs a medical certificate plus entitlement to a qualifying benefit (Attendance Allowance, daily living PIP, ESA, Severe Disablement Allowance, etc.).
Other disregards - under-18s, apprentices on under £195 per week, school leavers under 20, full-time student nurses, foreign-language assistants, members of religious communities, carers (in some circumstances), prisoners, hospital patients (long-stay), residents of certain hostels.

The logic is two-step:

Count adults (everyone 18+).
Subtract disregarded persons. The result is counted adults.

If counted adults = 0 in an occupied property, a 50% reduction applies. If counted adults = 1, the 25% Single Person Discount applies. If everyone is a full-time student, the property is fully exempt.

Council Tax Reduction (CTR)

CTR (also called Council Tax Support in some areas) is a means-tested top-up that further reduces the bill for low-income households. The schemes are devolved:

England - each billing authority designs its own scheme for working-age claimants. Most schemes require the claimant to pay between 0% and 30% of the gross bill regardless of income, plus a taper based on excess income. Pensioners are protected by national rules and can get up to 100% reduction.
Scotland - a single national scheme administered by councils. Working-age and pension-age claimants can both get up to 100% reduction.
Wales - national framework set by the Welsh Government, administered by the 22 unitary councils. Up to 100% reduction for those on the lowest incomes.

CTR is applied after band discounts, on the residual bill. The calculator on this page lets you stack a CTR percentage on top of any SPD or student-related discount.

Appealing your band

If you believe your band is wrong, you can challenge it:

England and Wales (VOA) - submit a “Challenge” through the gov.uk online service. You will need evidence: sale prices of similar properties at the relevant valuation date (1991 for England, 2003 for Wales), or evidence of a “material reduction” (for example a major road built next door, or part of the property demolished). The VOA reviews and either upholds the band, lowers it, or - importantly - raises it. Always check comparable properties first; banding goes both ways.
Scotland (SAA) - submit a proposal to the local Assessor. If they reject it, you can appeal to the Local Taxation Chamber within 4 months.

Successful rebandings produce a refund from the date you started paying the higher band - up to 1993 in some long-standing cases. Note that the VOA does not consider current market value; only the 1991 (or 2003) hypothetical value is in scope.

How to use this calculator

Select your country. England, Scotland, and Wales each use slightly different bands - Wales has Band I.
Pick your local authority from the dropdown. The Band D rate inclusive of all precepts loads automatically from our published-rates table.
Choose your band (A-H, or A-I in Wales). If you do not know your band, look it up on the VOA / SAA online service; the link is in our FAQ.
Set adult counts and disregards. Tick “Single adult household” if only one adult lives at the property. Use the disregarded count for students, SMI persons, apprentices, etc.
Optionally enter CTR% if you receive Council Tax Reduction.
Pick 10 or 12 instalments for the monthly figure.

The annual bill, monthly instalment, and a per-band breakdown for your local authority appear in the results pane. The figure is what your billing authority would actually charge in 2025/26 (the latest published year); councils typically raise Band D by 2 to 4.99% in April each year so 2026/27 figures will be marginally higher.

Data and provenance

England 2025/26 Band D rates: gov.uk, Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2025 to 2026. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
Wales 2025/26 Band D rates: gov.wales, Council Tax levels by billing authority and band, April 2025 to March 2026. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
Scotland 2025/26 Band D rates: gov.scot, Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics: Council Tax 2025-26. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
Band ratios: Section 5 Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended for Wales by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994).

The figures are inclusive of billing-authority, county/upper-tier, police, fire, and (where applicable) parish precepts. Local variation within an LA (parish add-ons) is averaged. For an exact bill to the penny use your billing authority’s online calculator - this tool answers the “what does a typical Band [X] home pay in [LA]” question that gov.uk’s own data publications confirm.

Frequently asked questions

How are UK Council Tax bands set?

Council Tax bands are set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales and the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland. England and Scotland use property valuations as at 1 April 1991. Wales rebanded in 2003, so Welsh bands use valuations as at 1 April 2003 and include an extra Band I for the most valuable properties. Your band determines a fixed ratio of the Band D rate set by your local authority - for example a Band B home pays 7/9 of Band D, while a Band H home pays 18/9.

Can I appeal my Council Tax band?

Yes. In England and Wales you can challenge your band with the VOA if you have evidence the valuation was wrong - for example sale prices of similar properties at the relevant valuation date, or a material change in the area. You can ask for a review free of charge through the VOA online service. In Scotland, you appeal to the local Assessor and, if unresolved, to the Local Taxation Chamber. There is no deadline for the initial challenge in most cases, but successful rebandings produce a refund only from the date you started living at the property (or 1993 in some cases). Appeals can also lead to a higher band, so check comparable properties first.

What is the Single Person Discount?

If only one adult lives at the property as their main home, the Council Tax bill is reduced by 25%. The adult must be 18 or over and the property must be their sole or main residence. The discount is not automatic in most areas - you have to apply to the billing authority and confirm annually. Lying about household composition to claim the discount is a criminal offence (Section 14 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992) and councils run data-matching exercises against the electoral roll to detect false claims.

Do full-time students pay Council Tax?

Full-time students are "disregarded" for Council Tax purposes, meaning they do not count as adults when working out whether the Single Person Discount or full exemption applies. If a property is occupied only by full-time students, the bill is 100% exempt. If a student lives with one non-student adult, the non-student gets the 25% Single Person Discount. The course must be at least one academic year long, at least 21 hours per week of study, and at a UK university or college recognised by the relevant authority.

What is the severely mentally impaired (SMI) disregard?

A person diagnosed as severely mentally impaired (for example dementia, severe learning disability, or a long-term mental health condition) is disregarded for Council Tax purposes. They must have a certificate from a registered medical practitioner and be entitled to a qualifying benefit (such as Attendance Allowance, the daily living component of PIP, or Severe Disablement Allowance). If everyone in the household is SMI-disregarded, the property is exempt. If only one counted adult remains, that adult gets the 25% Single Person Discount.

What is Council Tax Reduction (CTR)?

Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support) is a means-tested scheme that reduces the bill for low-income households. Each English billing authority sets its own scheme (working-age claimants typically pay between 0% and 30% of the gross bill), while Scotland and Wales operate national schemes that protect a wider group. Pensioners are protected by national rules in all three countries. Apply directly to your billing authority - you can apply alongside Universal Credit or as a standalone claim.

How many instalments can I pay over?

The statutory default is 10 instalments running from April to January, with February and March payment-free. Since 2013 every billing authority in England and Wales must offer 12 instalments on request, spreading the bill across the full year. Scottish councils typically offer 10 instalments by default and 12 on request. Spreading payments over 12 months makes each instalment 16-17% smaller but the annual total is unchanged - paying monthly by direct debit is the cheapest way (most councils charge a fee for non-direct-debit payment plans).

Does Northern Ireland have Council Tax?

No. Northern Ireland uses Domestic Rates instead, administered by Land & Property Services (LPS) and the 11 district councils. The bill is a percentage of the capital value of the property (the 2005 valuation) split into a regional rate set by the Department of Finance and a district rate set by the council. There is no banding system - the bill scales continuously with property value. This calculator covers England, Scotland, and Wales only.

Why is Westminster Council Tax so low compared to other London boroughs?

Westminster has the lowest Council Tax in mainland Britain because the borough generates very large business rates and parking income relative to its small residential population, and historically chose to subsidise residents rather than build large general reserves. Wandsworth follows a similar model. Both boroughs charge well under £1,000 at Band D - roughly half the London average - while still funding a full range of services. Note this is before the Greater London Authority (GLA) precept, which is the same across all London boroughs.

How do precepts work?

The Band D figure on your bill is the sum of several precepts. In two-tier areas (most of England outside London and the metropolitan counties) the county council typically charges the largest share (around 70-80%), the district council a smaller share (10-20%), the police and crime commissioner around 10%, and fire and rescue 2-5%. Parish or town councils add a few percent more in some areas. In single-tier areas (unitary authorities, London boroughs, metropolitan districts) the billing authority charges the bulk and the police/fire precepts are added separately. The calculator uses the full Band D rate inclusive of every precept.