All the ways you can cut your council tax - with bills set to soar from April

Households are set to face inflation-busting increases to their council tax as of April.

From the start of the new tax year, 85 per cent of councils in England have indicated they will apply a maximum council tax increase of at least 4.99 per cent this year.

Some are planning even bigger rises, after permission was granted by the Government.

But there are many ways you can try and cut your bill – with several discounts available to those who qualify.

Here’s what you can try and do in order to reduce your costs.

Many people can get discounts.

If you are the only qualifying bill payer in your household, for example, you live alone, you can get a 25 per cent reduction on your council tax.

There are also many council tax support schemes used to reduce council tax bills for people on a low income. You can apply whether you are in or out of work.

You can also get a 100 per cent discount – ie a complete exemption – if there are no qualifying payers.

Generally speaking, all adults are qualifying payers – children are not – but the following groups of adults are exempt.

Households where everyone’s a full-time student do not have to pay council tax.

To count as a full-time student, your course must:

If you study for a qualification up to A-Level and you’re under 20, your course must:

People who are considered ‘severely mentally impaired’ are not counted when working out council tax.

According to benefits website Turn2Us, severe mental impairment means a “permanent condition which severely affects intellectual and social functioning. This can include conditions like Parkinson’s, dementia, and learning disabilities.”

You will need a certificate from your doctor saying that you or someone living in your household are severely mentally impaired.

If you are a carer and you live with someone you care for, you will not be counted a billpayer, but you will need to provide more than 35 hours per week of care, and the person you care for needs to be getting one of several benefits.

You can get the full list of benefits from your council’s website.

There are eight council tax bands, each with a different rate of tax.

The bands are based on what your property was worth in 1991 in England and Scotland, or 2003 in Wales.

You can challenge your band if you think it is too high.

Be warned, however, that if you do check, your band can go up as well as down.

Consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com recommends two checks to decide whether you should challenge.

The first of these it calls the “neighbour’s check”.

“This is the starting point and by far the most important check: you need to find out if your band’s higher than neighbours in similar, or identical, properties,” it says.

The second check is what your house was worth in 1991. Many sites have free calculators that allow you to do this, if you know the current value of your home.

If you want to challenge your band, you need to contact the Valuation Office Agency.

You can sometimes get a reduction on your council tax bill if you are on a low income or on certain benefits.

Broadly speaking, schemes vary between local authority, so it is worth checking yours to see what is on offer.

You can find out using this Government website checker – all you need is your postcode.

There are particularly generous benefits on offer for those who receive pension credit – so if you get that, it’s especially worth checking.

If you receive the guarantee credit part of pension credit you may have to pay no tax at all.

Although not technically a cut to your bill, you may be able to claim back money if you have overpaid your council tax in the past.

This most likely happens if you move house midway through a tax year.

As consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com explains: “If you pay for a year’s worth of council tax in 10 instalments, covering April to March, but move out in mid-February, you’ve overpaid by a month and a half. Councils will often automatically give you a refund before closing your account – but if yours doesn’t and you don’t reclaim, it’ll be closed in credit.”

If this is you, you can contact your old council and see if you overpaid, and if you are owed any outstanding cash.