Council Tax Calculator

Council tax is a local tax set by each council in England, based on property valuation bands. Properties are banded from A (lowest value) to H (highest) according to their estimated value on 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, or 1 April 2003 in Wales, which rebanded at that point. Band D is the reference band, and every other band is expressed as a proportion of the Band D charge your council sets each year. Current market values play no part: the bands are locked to the 1991 (or 2003) valuation, and for a new build the Valuation Office Agency estimates what the property would have fetched in 1991. Northern Ireland uses domestic rates based on actual property value instead.

The proportions are fixed. Band A pays 6/9 of the Band D charge, Band B 7/9, Band C 8/9, Band D 9/9, Band E 11/9, Band F 13/9, Band G 15/9 and Band H 18/9, which is twice Band D. So a Band A household pays two-thirds of what a Band D neighbour pays, while a Band H property pays double. The calculator applies your band's fraction to the Band D figure you enter, then knocks off any discount. In the worked example, a Band C property in a council charging £2,100 for Band D comes to £1,866.67 before discounts, and the bill is normally collected in 10 monthly instalments.

The 1991 value thresholds used in England were: Band A up to £40,000, Band B £40,001 to £52,000, Band C £52,001 to £68,000, Band D £68,001 to £88,000, Band E £88,001 to £120,000, Band F £120,001 to £160,000, Band G £160,001 to £320,000 and Band H above £320,000. Those are 1991 prices, so a house that would sell for several times as much today is still judged on what it was worth then. Wales uses its own 2003 thresholds, and a further Welsh revaluation has been discussed for 2028.

Because each council sets its own Band D charge, bills for the same band vary widely. The average Band D charge for 2026/27 is £2,392 a year in England (£2,068 in London), roughly £1,500 to £1,800 in Scotland (which runs a different system) and over £2,000 in Wales. Between councils the gap is far bigger: Wandsworth has the lowest average Band D in England at £1,028 in 2026/27, while Dorset has the highest at £2,765. Local services and the size of a council's reserves drive the difference. Bills have risen 50 to 80% since 2010, well above CPI inflation, as councils have leaned on council tax to offset cuts in central funding.

Discounts and exemptions can cut the bill substantially. A 25% single person discount applies if only one adult lives in the property, and some residents are disregarded when counting adults: full-time students, under-18s and people with a severe mental impairment. An all-student household is exempt, and some councils also exempt care leavers, apprentices, monks and nuns. Where a property has been adapted for a disabled resident, the disabled band reduction bills you at the band below yours, so Band D is charged as Band C. An annexe occupied by a family member gets 50% off. Empty homes are treated differently by each council, often with a short discount period and then a 100 to 300% premium once the property has stood empty for two years or more. Second homes and holiday lets attract a 200% premium in many councils, and Welsh councils can go up to 300%.

Council Tax Reduction replaced Council Tax Benefit in 2013 and is the means-tested route for people on low incomes. Each council designs its own scheme, so eligibility varies considerably from one area to the next. Pension-age claimants are covered by a national framework and can get a full reduction if their income is at Pension Credit level. Working-age schemes differ: some councils pay up to 100% for the lowest incomes, others cap support at 75 to 80%, with the reduction tapering as income rises. Income counted includes wages, benefits such as Universal Credit and JSA, pensions and savings income, while most councils exclude child benefit and disability benefits (PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance). The capital limit is usually £16,000, excluding your home, and disability and carer premiums increase the entitlement. You apply through your council's website.

If you think your property is in the wrong band, you can ask the Valuation Office Agency (England and Wales) or the Scottish Assessors to review it. The strongest ground is comparable neighbouring properties sitting in a lower band, which you can check with the VOA postcode lookup or Money Saving Expert's Council Tax band check tool, alongside an estimate of your home's 1991 value from the Nationwide House Price Index history. If you have lived there less than 6 months you use the formal 'proposal' route, which is more rigorous; otherwise you make an informal 'request for review'. Around 15% of challenges succeed, and a successful rebanding refunds overpayments back to 1 April 1993, when the current system started, as well as cutting future bills. The risk is that the VOA can move you up a band instead, so check the comparables carefully before you apply.