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What is Council Tax?

A quick primer on what Council Tax pays for, who sets it, and why bands matter.

Council Tax is a local levy collected by your council to fund services like rubbish collection, libraries, and social care. The amount you pay depends on your property's Council Tax band — A through H in England and Scotland, A through I in Wales — and the rates your council sets each year. Bands were assigned based on a property's market value on a fixed valuation date: 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, 1 April 2003 in Wales. They have not been revalued since. Two consequences: bands often haven't kept pace with how the property has actually changed, and many were assigned in a hurry by valuation surveyors driving past, sometimes incorrectly.

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