Dealing with priority debts: Council Tax arrears

YOUR WAGES CAN BE GARNISHED, YOUR BELONGINGS CAN BE REPOSSESSED, AND YOU CAN EVEN BE IMPRISONED FOR UNREASONABLE FAILURE TO PAY YOUR COUNCIL TAX.

If you're in arrears with Council Tax payments, you should contact your local council as soon as possible.

Be aware that imprisonment is the last resort: it will only be employed if you are found guilty of 'wilful refusal' (aka, you intentionally fail to pay your council tax even though you are able) or 'culpable neglect' (aka, it's believed that you are only unable to pay because you are neglectful of your finances).

 
Making contact

You must make arrangements to repay. Typically repayment will be expected within the financial year (1st April to 31st March). In special cases where you are facing financial hardship that is beyond your control it may be possible to negotiate a longer repayment period.


Additional considerations

It is worth considering your eligibility for council tax discounts. If you are on a low income, live alone, or are disabled, you may be entitled to Council Tax benefit.

It is also worth checking to see if your property has been assigned to the correct Council Tax band. You can check your tax band against neighbouring properties on the Directgov website. If you believe that the tax band assigned to your property is too high, you can arrange for your Council Tax liability to be reassessed by the Valuation Office Agency. Be warned, however, that your tax band can be moved up as well as down, so be sure that the properties you are comparing with have a similar value.