Discounts
The full council tax bill assumes that there are two adults living in the property. If there is only one person living in the property, you get a discount of 25 per cent. If there is no one living in the property, you get a discount of 50 per cent.
Some people are disregarded when counting how many people live in the property. They are sometimes described as ‘invisible’ or having a ‘status discount’.
The following people are disregarded in this way:
•anyone under 18 years old;
•anyone aged 18 or over for whom child benefit is payable;
•a full-time student;
•a student’s partner who is not a British citizen and whose immigration status prevents her/him from taking up paid employment or accessing social security benefits (though not necessarily both);
•someone under age 20 who was on a non-advanced course of education and who left school or college after 1 May. The discount applies from 1 May until 31 October;
•a student nurse (see
here for who counts);
•an apprentice (see below for who counts);
•others – eg, carers, hospital patients and trainees. See CPAG’s Council Tax Handbook for details.
Apprentices
You count as an ‘apprentice’ for council tax purposes, if:
– you are employed for the purpose of learning a trade, business, profession, office, employment or vocation;
– your training programme leads to a qualification accredited by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) or by the Welsh Ministers; and
– you are receiving a salary or allowance (or both), which totals no more than £195 per week before bonuses or overtime.
1Sch 1 para 1 CT(DD)OYou will need to show the local authority evidence of your status, such as your apprenticeship agreement and payslips.