What if I do not pay my council tax?

How local authorities collect unpaid council tax

Not paying council tax can mean the local authority collects the money you owe by:

Taking payments from your wages

• This called an attachment of earnings
• It is a fixed percentage of your take-home pay

Taking payments from your benefits

• A maximum of 5% of your standard allowance can be deducted from universal credit
• A maximum of £3.70 a week can be taken from:
  
  • Income support
  • Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
  • Income-related employment and support allowance
  • Pension credit

Using enforcement agents

• They do this by applying for a liability order

In Scotland, council tax covers sewage and water charges. You must pay these, even if you can get a council tax reduction.

Find out more about court action for council tax debt in England & Wales and Scotland.

Other actions councils can take to chase unpaid council tax

The local authority can take further action if you do not pay your council tax debts. They can:

• Use a charging order to secure the debt to your home if you owe more than £1,000
• Make you bankrupt if you owe more than £5,000 in England and Wales
• Send you to prison for up to three months (if you live in England). This is rare, and only used if you refuse to pay

The local authority cannot send you to prison if any other methods can be used.

Common questions about council tax debts

How long can you be chased for a council tax debt?

Most types of debt become ‘statute barred’ or ‘prescribed’ after a period of time.

A statute barred or prescribed debt means the debt is written off because the people you owe cannot make you pay it.

• In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, debts are statute barred after 6 years
• In Scotland, debts are prescribed after five years

This does not happen automatically. Your debt may remain active if a liability order or summary warrant is in place. Find out more about how debts are written off.

Can bailiffs force entry for council tax?

A bailiff can only force entry:

• To collect a criminal fine or taxes owed to HM Revenue & Customs
• To take goods if there was a controlled goods agreement in place, but you did not pay what you had agreed to pay

A bailiff cannot force entry to your home for council tax debt unless there is a controlled goods agreement in place.

Find out more about bailiff rights and powers.

Can I go to jail for not paying council tax?

In England, you could go to prison for up to three months if you do not pay what you have been ordered to pay by the court.

This is a last resort and very rare.

Learn about which debts could lead you to being sent to prison.

Council tax court summons

England and Wales

A liability order gives the local authority permission to take further action on unpaid council tax.

You can attend the hearing and tell the magistrate if:

• A mistake has been made, or
• Your council tax was paid in full before the hearing date

Contact the local authority before the hearing and ask them to let you pay the arrears in instalments.

Your local authority can collect unpaid council tax in several ways once a liability order is issued.

If your local authority starts court action:

• You get a summons in the post
• This gives you a date and time for a court hearing
• An extra charge will be added to your bill at this point
• A magistrate issues the liability order at the hearing

Contact us for advice if you get a letter about council tax court action.

Scotland

Your local authority applies to the sheriff court for a summary warrant.

• This is part of the diligence process
• A fee of 10% of the outstanding council tax is added to your bill

Contact us for advice if you get a letter about council tax court action.

You are then sent a charge for payment letter.

• This asks you to pay the amount due within 14 days
• It comes with a form you can fill in to ask for a time to pay order
• Fill in the form
• Come up with an offer of payment
• Send both to the sheriff’s office

Use our online debt advice tool to work out how much you can afford to offer.

No more action is  taken if:

• The local authority accepts your offer of payment and
• You make the payments you agreed to

They can take action to collect the debt if you do not.

The most common ways are:

• Taking payments from your wages using an earnings arrestment
• Taking money from your bank account using a bank arrestment

Sheriff officers can take goods from outside or inside your home. This is a last resort if there are no other ways to collect the arrears.

Get help if you are finding it hard to pay your council tax

Take two minutes to answer a few simple questions if you:

• Have missed council tax payments, or
• You are finding it hard to pay arrears

We will find the best way to help you.