There are a number of ways in which a council tax bill can be reduced and in some cases cancelled out altogether. These include:
Council Tax Benefit / Second Adult Rebate
Council tax benefit can help people on low incomes to pay their bill – over 20% of households in Darlington get some rebate and around 14% get full rebate. How much you can get off your bill depends on how much money you have coming in and your savings.
You do not have to be claiming income support or job seeker's allowance to get council tax benefit – you could also claim if you are:
A Pensioner*
Working
Getting any other benefits
Getting tax credits
* It is estimated that well over 2 million pensioners nationally get council tax benefit but that more than a million others are missing out. Over one third of pensioners nationally do not claim the rebate to which they are entitled, leaving them with unnecessarily high council tax bills. You don't have to be eligible to Pension Credit to qualify for council tax benefit.
If you do not have a partner but there is another adult on a low income living in your household, you might be able to get second adult rebate from your bill in respect of that person.
More information about council tax benefit and second adult rebate
Exemptions
In certain circumstances, some properties are exempt from council tax altogether so there is nothing to pay.
These include dwellings where all the adult residents are students, dwellings which are unoccupied / unfurnished for up to 6 months (up to 12 months if it is waiting for or undergoing major repair / alterations), all the residents are under 18, all the residents are in care and others.
More information about exemptions
Discounts
If you are the only adult living in a property you can get a discount of 25%.
You might also be able to get a discount of 25% if someone living in the property is disregarded for council tax – which can include, students, the mentally ill, carers, people in prison and others. If all the residents are disregarded you can either get a discount of 50% or full exemption depending on the particular circumstances.
If a property is unoccupied but furnished (and not entitled to any exemption), you can get a discount of 10%.
More information about discounts
Disabled Band Reductions
A reduction can be given if a disabled person lives in the dwelling and it has certain facilities in the property to meet the needs of the person.
The reduction that can be given is the equivalent of charging council tax as though the property was one valuation band lower than it is actually (or reducing the bill by 1/6th if the property is in band A).
More information about disabled band reductions