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 the bill is usually split into 10 monthly payments. You can ask your council to spread it over 12 months instead, which makes each payment smaller without changing the annual total (gov.uk).
How the banding system works
A property’s band is set by:
- The Valuation Office in England and Wales.
- The assessor at your local Valuation Joint Board or council in Scotland. The Scottish Assessors Association is their umbrella body and runs the band look-up (gov.uk).
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 in England and Wales, as ninths of Band D, are below. Scotland uses the same proportions for bands A to D but its own for E to H: 473/360, 585/360, 705/360 and 882/360 of Band D (the Council Tax (Substitution of Proportion) (Scotland) Order 2016).
| Band | Ratio to Band D (England, Wales) | England 1991 value | Scotland 1991 value | Wales 2003 value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6/9 (66.7%) | Up to £40,000 | Up to £27,000 | Up to £44,000 |
| B | 7/9 (77.8%) | £40,001 to £52,000 | £27,001 to £35,000 | £44,001 to £65,000 |
| C | 8/9 (88.9%) | £52,001 to £68,000 | £35,001 to £45,000 | £65,001 to £91,000 |
| D | 9/9 (100%) | £68,001 to £88,000 | £45,001 to £58,000 | £91,001 to £123,000 |
| E | 11/9 (122.2%) | £88,001 to £120,000 | £58,001 to £80,000 | £123,001 to £162,000 |
| F | 13/9 (144.4%) | £120,001 to £160,000 | £80,001 to £106,000 | £162,001 to £223,000 |
| G | 15/9 (166.7%) | £160,001 to £320,000 | £106,001 to £212,000 | £223,001 to £324,000 |
| H | 18/9 (200%) | Above £320,000 | Above £212,000 | £324,001 to £424,000 |
| I | 21/9 (233.3%) | (no Band I in England) | (no Band I) | Above £424,000 |
Scottish values as published by Moray Council; England and Wales values from gov.uk.
In England and Wales a Band H property pays exactly 3× a Band A property in the same local authority, and a Welsh Band I home pays 3.5×. In Scotland Band H is 882/240 of Band A, about 3.7×. The ratios are statutory and do not vary between councils in the same country; 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.
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, or everyone else disregarded. 25% off the gross bill. You have to apply to your council.
- All-student household - exempt. A full-time course must last at least 1 year and involve at least 21 hours of study a week (for someone under 20 studying up to A level, at least 3 months and 12 hours a week).
- Severely mentally impaired (SMI) disregard - the SMI person is removed from the adult count. Needs a certificate from a medical professional such as a GP plus eligibility for certain benefits, which your council will confirm.
- Other disregards - under-18s, apprentices paid no more than £195 a week on a scheme leading to an accredited qualification, 18 and 19 year olds in full-time education, under-25s funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, student nurses, foreign language assistants registered with the British Council, live-in carers for someone who is not their partner, spouse or child under 18, and diplomats. Schedule 1 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 adds others, including people in detention and long-term hospital or care home residents.
The list above follows gov.uk and LGFA 1992 Schedule 1.
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 council runs its own scheme for working-age claimants (gov.uk); the rules for people over State Pension age are prescribed nationally (SI 2012/2885). The bill can be reduced by up to 100%.
- Scotland - one national scheme, administered by councils (SSI 2021/249, with SSI 2012/319 for pension age).
- Wales - national prescribed requirements set by the Welsh Government (SI 2013/3029), administered by the councils.
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 - use the gov.uk online service to challenge through the Valuation Office. You have a legal right to challenge (a formal “proposal”) if you became the Council Tax payer less than 6 months ago, if the Valuation Office changed your band in the last 6 months, or if the property or local area has changed. Otherwise you ask for a “band review”. Evidence is up to 5 similar properties in a lower band, or sale prices from around the valuation date (1 April 1989 to 31 March 1993 for England, 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2005 for Wales). The Valuation Office aims to decide a proposal within 4 months and a band review within 12. Only a proposal can be appealed to the Valuation Tribunal, normally within 3 months of the decision in England or 4 months in Wales. Keep paying while it is considered.
- Scotland - challenge through the assessor at your local Valuation Joint Board or council.
If your band is changed, your council revises the bill and pays any refund due. Current market value is not in scope; only the 1991 (or 2003) value is. Source: gov.uk, Challenge your Council Tax band.
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 gov.uk (England and Wales) or the Scottish Assessors Association website (Scotland).
- 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 figures use the published 2026/27 Band D rates, parsed cell-for-cell from each country’s own March 2026 release. The English referendum cap binds the core charge rather than the precepts stacked on top of it, so a bill can rise by more than the cap suggests. The statutory band ratios (A to H, and I in Wales) applied on top of Band D are unchanged year to year.
Data and provenance
- England 2026/27 Band D rates: MHCLG, Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027, Table 9. Published 25 March 2026, retrieved 2026-08-07.
- Wales 2026/27 Band D rates: gov.wales, Council Tax levels: April 2026 to March 2027, Table 1, “Overall average band D”. Published 24 March 2026, retrieved 2026-08-07.
- Scotland 2026/27 Band D rates: gov.scot, Council Tax by band 2026-27 (CTAS 2026). Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- 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.