Council To Check Single Person Discount

A review of the Council Tax single person discount is to be carried out by South Bucks District Council, so now is the time to act if you are not sure about your entitlement or your circumstances have changed.

A Council Tax bill is calculated as if two or more adults are resident in the property. If, however, only one adult (a person over the age of eighteen) occupies a property, then they are entitled to a 25% single person discount.

The review is being undertaken because the Council is committed to maintaining as low a Council Tax as possible and has an obligation to ensure that its customers only receive the discounts they are entitled to. In addition, recent Government initiatives have enabled matching exercises to be carried which make it easier to highlight potential discrepancies.

There are currently just over 8,000 taxpayers across the district who receive 25% off their bill. While the vast majority of these claims are genuine, there may be cases where the Council has not been told about a change in household occupancy which affects the discount, or where a false claim has been made deliberately.

South Bucks District Councillor Julian Wilson, Cabinet Member for Resources said, 'We do encourage residents to claim their correct discount entitlement. However, anyone who is falsely claiming a Council Tax discount is not paying their fair share towards local services. It is now a lot easier to identify such people and we urge them to come forward to ensure that their bill correctly reflects their circumstances'.   

To notify the council of a change, to check whether a current discount is correct or to claim a discount you are entitled to, please call the Council Tax helpline on 01895 837500 or email revenuesandbenefits@southbucks.gov.uk

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Publication date: 07 July 2008