Council tax discounts

The Working Age local Council Tax Reduction Scheme is banded, based on your monthly income and your household. 

Read more about the conditions of the scheme below:

• If your capital is greater than £4000, you will not be entitled to any Council Tax Reduction
• We cannot backdate any Council Tax Reduction claims
• The minimum award of Council Tax reduction is £3 per week
• Council Tax reduction will only be paid to the level of a Band D property. So if your property is in a higher Council Tax band, you will only be able to get help up to the cost of a Band D property
• We will disregard Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments, Armed Forces Independence Payments and War Disablement Payments as income
• We will disregard Child Benefit and Child Maintenance payments as income
• If you are working, we will disregard £7.50 per week from any take home pay
• If you are a Carer, we will disregard any Carer's Allowance that you receive
• If you have other adults living in your property, that are not your partner, you may receive a lower amount of Council Tax Reduction, due to a non-dependent deduction being applied

You will get a £5 reduction if you have adults living with you who are:

• In receipt of Universal Credit, Income Related Employment Support Allowance, Income based Job seekers Allowance or Guaranteed Pension Credit
• Of state pension age
• Not working
• Working and earn up to £139.99

You will get a £10 reduction if you have adults living with you who are:

• Working and earn more than £140 per week

If you are a joint tenant or live at the address with another joint owner you'll only be able to claim Council Tax Reduction for a proportion of the overall bill.

If you are a couple you must make a claim for Council Tax Reduction as a couple and your award will be based on your household circumstances.

Look at the Income Bands for further details of the discount you may receive.

Council Tax Reduction for Pensioners

If you are of pensionable age, there are 2 types of help we may be able to give you with your Council Tax bill.

• Council Tax Reduction - if you have less than £16,000 in savings and are on a low income, or 
• Second Adult Rebate - see below for further details

Find out your State Pension Age by visiting the GOV.UK website.

Find out if you are eligible for additional financial help using the benefits calculator.

Further details of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for Pensioners can be found in our Council Tax Reduction Scheme (PDF Document).

How to apply for Council Tax Reduction

All applications for Council Tax Reduction must be made via our online Benefits website. If you do not have time to complete the form in one go, you can save it and retrieve it at a later date (up to 14 days).

If you decide to save it, you will be given a reference number, which you will need to keep safe, in order to return to your application form.

You will need the following information before you start your online application:

• National insurance number for you (and your partner, if applicable)
• Income and capital for you (and your partner, if applicable)
• Income for other people that live with you (if applicable)
• Your Council Tax Account number, if you have one

 What evidence we need to support your application:

• Proof of ID and National Insurance Number (if not in receipt of Universal Credit)
• Proof of income (i.e., 2 x recent payslips, private pension letters)
• Proof of benefits (i.e., full copy of recent Universal Credit award, showing all deduction, earnings & total award paid) 

You will be able to upload your evidence online, as you go through the application. Instructions on how to do this will be shown on the screen as you go through the form.

If you are unable to upload your evidence online, please email all documents to Benefits@wokingham.gov.uk.

Once we receive your application, we will check to make sure you have fully completed all of the sections of the form and provided all the evidence. We will tell you if we need any further information. It is important you provide all of the evidence as soon as possible, to avoid the process being slowed down or your application being cancelled.

Apply for Council Tax Reduction by visiting our Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction website.

Back-dated Council Tax Reduction

Back-dated Council Tax Reductions are only available to people who have reached the qualifying age for state pension credit. We will automatically consider a backdate request of up to 3 months. This will only go back as far as the date you reached pension credit age, the date you became liable for the rent or 3 months, whichever is the shorter.

Second Adult Rebate

Second Adult Rebate is only available to people of state pension age.

• You may be able to get Second Adult Rebate even if you do not normally get Council Tax Reduction
• If you already get Council Tax Reduction you will not need to claim Second Adult Rebate
• Second Adult Rebate will be based on the circumstances of the other adults in your household
• Your income and savings will not affect Second Adult Rebate

There are occasions when you could be entitled to Council Tax Reduction or Second Adult Rebate. We will pay you the one that gives you most.

The following rules apply

• You must be the sole person liable for Council Tax at the address
• You must share your home with one or more adults over 18 who are on a low income and are not your partner
• If your partner is disregarded for Council Tax purposes you may be able to claim
• You can’t claim if anyone pays you rent to live in your house such as a sub-tenant or a boarder

We will ask for details of all income, including benefits, of the other adults that live with you. The amount of Second Adult Rebate that you get depends on their total income. It is paid as a fixed percentage reduction in your Council Tax of 25 percent, 15 percent or 7.5 percent.

Apply for Second Adult Rebate

• Complete our Second Adult Rebate application form (PDF document) to apply for Second Adult Rebate

How you will receive your Council Tax Reduction

Payment is made to your Council Tax account. You will receive a revised Council Tax bill when you are awarded Council Tax Reduction. This will tell you if you still have money to pay towards your Council Tax bill.

Working Age Council Tax Reduction Scheme Income Bands

A passported benefit is defined under this section as any applicant who is in receipt of any of the following:

• A) Income support
• B) Income based Job Seekers Allowance
• C) Income related Employment and Support Allowance

What to do if your circumstances change

You must tell us if your circumstances change within 21 days of the change. This is because the changes may affect the amount of Council Tax Reduction you are entitled to. You may face a penalty charge of £70 if you fail to notify us of a change in time.

Changes you should tell us about:

• any changes to your or your partners income and savings
• if you move house
• if people move in to your household. you will need to provide the date they moved in and details on their income
• if people move out of your household. you will need to provide the date they moved out and a forwarding address.
• changes to benefits you or your partner receive
• if you have a baby
• changes of circumstances of people who live with you (e.g. starting work, leaving school, change in income)
• if your benefits stop
• if you start to receive benefits
• if you start work
• changes to child care costs

This is not an exhaustive list and you email the email the benefits team if you are not sure.

If you do not tell us about your change of circumstances straight away, you may lose money you are entitled to or you may get too much Council Tax Reduction, which you would have to pay pay back. You may also face a penalty charge of £70. It is better to tell us about a change, even if you are not sure it will affect you.

You can report a change using the online change of circumstances form. You will need your Benefits claim reference number and National Insurance Number to hand. You may need to provide evidence of the change you are reporting. You can email these documents to Benefits@wokingham.gov.uk ensuring you quote your Benefits claim reference number on all correspondence.