Discount for working age people 

The following table shows the level of discount you'll receive based on:

• the number of people in your household
• the total income you have coming in on a weekly basis

These income bands are from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

View the Council Tax Support income band details for previous years.

More details

• The maximum amount of discount you can be awarded is 92.80%.
• The level of support is based on income bands, meaning small changes to your income will not change the amount of discount you've been awarded.
• Disability benefits, Child Benefit and child maintenance are not included in your total income. However, we do still need to know about these.
• If you pay childcare costs, some or all of the costs will be deducted from your total income. This means you may fall into a lower income band.
• War pensions are not included in the total of your income.
• No deduction is made for adults other than you and your partner living in your household. (This was previously known as a non dependant deduction.)
• If you're self-employed, we'll calculate your income from either year-end accounts or day books (if you don't have year-end accounts). If you've been trading for more than 12 months and your earnings are less than the national living wage rate at 35 hours (or 16 hours for a single parent), we'll use an assumed income of 35 or 16 hours at the national living wage rate. This is known as the minimum income floor. This does not apply to single parents with children under the age of five.
• If you have more than £10,000 in capital you're not entitled to Council Tax Support.

See our Council Tax Support policy for full details of the scheme.

Discount for pensionable age people 

The government tells us how we must work out the discount for people of pensionable age. This is different to working age people. You can check your State Pension age on GOV.UK.

The maximum amount of help you can receive is 100% discount off your Council Tax bill.

Apply if you're working age

You can apply for Council Tax Support below. You’ll need to have the following details ready to enter into the online form:

• details of the income and benefits received by each person in your home
• the total balances for all of your capital and accounts, for you and your partner. This includes stocks, shares, Premium Bonds, and all accounts: eg current, savings, Post Office and building society accounts.

After you submit your application you'll be told the level of Council Tax Support you're entitled to straight away. If we need any more information from you we'll tell you this at the end of the form or contact you separately.

If you've already started and saved an application for Council Tax Support, you can continue this by entering the 12 digit reference number you were given when you saved the form and selecting 'Continue'.

Apply if you're pensionable age

You can apply for Council Tax Support below. Before you fill in the form, use our Council Tax Support calculator to check if you qualify and how much you might be entitled to. The details you enter in the calculator will automatically populate your claim form.

You’ll need to have the following details ready to enter into the online form:

• details of the income and benefits received by each person in your home. (If you don’t have payslips or you’ve recently changed jobs, ask your employer to fill in our online certificate of earnings form.)
• the total balances for all of your accounts for you and your partner. This includes current, savings, Post Office and building society accounts. 

You may also need to fill in one of the following forms if any of these apply to you:

• If you’re self-employed, please also fill in our self-employed earnings form.
• If you’ve returned to live in the UK within the last two years, you need to also fill in our habitual residence form to prove that you’re entitled to make a claim for benefit.
• If you, your partner or any children you’re claiming for own another property or land (either in the UK or abroad), you also need to fill in our property and land valuation form.

At the end of the application form you'll be told the evidence you need to provide to support your claim.

If you've already started and saved an application for Council Tax Support, you can continue this by entering the 12 digit reference number you were given when you saved the form and selecting 'Continue'.

Providing your evidence

If we've asked you to provide copies of some documents, you can upload these using our online evidence form.

You must provide your evidence within one calendar month from the date you applied for support.

What happens after applying

When we've received all of the information we need from you, we’ll work out how much support you’re entitled to. We'll contact you to let you know the amount, usually within 10 working days.

Any support you're awarded will be deducted from your Council Tax bill. We'll send you a new bill showing your new payment plan.

Your support will usually start on the Monday after we receive your application, or the day you told us you wanted to make a claim. In some instances, we can backdate your claim.

Making an appeal

If you disagree with our decision about your Council Tax Support claim you can appeal by filling in a dispute form. Find out how to make an appeal.

Change in your circumstances

If you move house or there are any other changes to your circumstances, you must tell us as this could affect the amount of support you receive. Tell us about a change of circumstances.

Acting as an appointee

If you've been appointed to deal with a person’s financial affairs on their behalf, you need to request to act as an appointee for their Council Tax and/or Housing Benefit.

If you're still finding it difficult to pay your Council Tax bill

If you've been awarded Council Tax Support but are still finding it difficult to pay your Council Tax bill, you can apply for additional relief.

Any further relief will only be awarded if it's considered you're suffering extreme financial hardship.

Find out how to apply for Council Tax Discretionary Relief.

Council Tax Support fraud

Council Tax Support fraud includes:

• failing to declare all of your income, including earnings and private pensions
• failing to declare all of your savings, including all bank or building society accounts and ISAs
• failing to declare that you own another property or land
• failing to declare a partner or other adults who live with you
• failing to report any change in circumstances that might affect your existing claim

If you make false claims or don’t tell us straight away about changes to your circumstances, you’ll have to repay any overpaid support. You may also be prosecuted. In less serious cases, you may receive a formal caution or a fine instead of prosecution.

Please tell us if you know someone who's committing Council Tax Support fraud. You can fill in our online benefit fraud form or email corporatefraudinvestigations@barnsley.gov.uk.