The figures on this site — and in our calculator — are the full charge for a home with two or more counted adults. Many households should be paying less. These are the reductions that matter, roughly in order of how often they are missed.
Single person discount — 25%
Live alone, or are the only counted adult? Your bill drops by a quarter. The word counted does the work: full-time students, apprentices under certain schemes, live-in carers, and people with a severe mental impairment are all disregarded. A parent living with a student son or daughter, for example, usually qualifies.
Student households — exempt
If every resident is a full-time student, the property is exempt. Mixed households get the 25% discount if only one non-student adult remains. Halls of residence are exempt automatically.
Disability band reduction
If your home has been adapted for a disabled resident — an extra bathroom or kitchen, or space for wheelchair use indoors — the bill is charged as if the home were one band lower (Band A homes get a proportionate reduction). Combined with the ninths arithmetic, that is typically a cut of about 11–17%.
Council Tax Reduction schemes
Every council runs a means-tested reduction scheme (sometimes called Council Tax Support) that can reduce a bill to zero for low-income households. Schemes vary council by council — apply directly through yours; find its official page linked from its CouncilData page.
Going the other way: premiums
Councils can now charge extra on top of the standard bill: up to double for second homes in much of the UK, and escalating premiums on long-term empty homes. If you are comparing areas before a move, the comparison tool shows the standard charge — check the council's own page for premium policies, which are linked from every council page here.