Council tax

Associate
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Lincs
I had a band change this year because the previous owners added an extension to the property 10 years ago.
Apparently this change only comes into effect when the house changes ownership. Was a bit of a stealth increase for us on top of the already increasing local rates.
 
Soldato
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30 Oct 2004
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Sacramento, CA, USA
We moved from Aberdeen to the US last year and miss council tax in a weird way - about $250/month here for just the rubbish collection and water/drainage. Just paid the $12k property tax for the year :(

The meme about taxes being lower in the US is nonsense, they are just rebranded!
 
Caporegime
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We moved from Aberdeen to the US last year and miss council tax in a weird way - about $250/month here for just the rubbish collection and water/drainage. Just paid the $12k property tax for the year :(

The meme about taxes being lower in the US is nonsense, they are just rebranded!

Maybe not property related taxes but sales taxes, fuel duty, etc are a lot cheaper.

Look at the price of a laptop in US and same one in UK.

Look at the price of a pair of Nike in USA and then UK.

Litre of petrol? Cost of living is cheaper so long as you stay away from New York city, LA, etc and go off into Texas somewhere.
 
Soldato
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Aquilonem Londinensi
What does the bin charge entail?

It's a slippery slope if councils start reducing frequency of services, or charging outside of council tax for bin collections. It'll just encourage more people to fly tip, or dump waste in public bins.

Happened here, refuse went to fortnightly and now the end of the street has a pile of binbags. People see the opportunity and fly tip all sorts on top, mattresses, furniture etc.

I don't know how people make so much rubbish, we very rarely fill one refuse bin and recycling I usually only put out once a month! Collection company refuse to take wheelie bins that don't close, only exacerbating the situation
 
Soldato
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Maybe not property related taxes but sales taxes, fuel duty, etc are a lot cheaper.

Look at the price of a laptop in US and same one in UK.

Look at the price of a pair of Nike in USA and then UK.

Litre of petrol? Cost of living is cheaper so long as you stay away from New York city, LA, etc and go off into Texas somewhere.
Let's not forget healthcare now shall we :p
 
Caporegime
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38,372
Let's not forget healthcare now shall we :p

You mean insurance? No idea how much it is but most folk who are in decent jobs get it as part of their package. Others need to pay for it.

I don't like America but stuff is generally a lot cheaper over there so the savings should be able to pay for insurance you would have thought.

Property is expensive though especially in major cities.
 
Caporegime
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5 Sep 2010
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25,572
Yeah I don't think it's sensible for me to go up any more bands. Especially if they soon roll in the stamp duty into council tax.

I do think council tax is right. If you can afford a 500k house you can afford the council tax. But it does squeeze you if you want a family. As you need more space, have less cash and have more council tax etc.

E-F seems a big jump!

The amount you pay for each band is fixed relative to the others.

In Wales:

A 6/9
B 7/9
C 8/9
D 9/9
E 11/9
F 13/9
G 15/9
H 18/9
I 21/9

The increase from D to E is the same as from E to F and F to G (an extra two ninths each time).
 
Soldato
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6 Sep 2005
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5,996
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Essex
I feel like I'm a winner this year:

ECC 0.0%
ECC Adult Social Care 1.5%
EPFCC 0.0%
PFCC - Policing & Community Safety 5.0%
CCC -0.8% (to be clear, that's negative 0.8%)
Average 1.6%
 
Soldato
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3 Aug 2008
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Location
Nelson, South Wales
3.8 percent overall increase for me (Cardiff CC)
Lowest I've seen compared to people I know in England

Up to 1952 for band E per year

Bins for me is
Recycling weekly
Food weekly
General fortnightly
Green bin once a month

Apparently this increase covers 1/3 of a 15mln shortfall. No doubt dying retail will make this worse

I am band E and pay more than you in RCT and it's literally next to Cardiff ! I would have thought cardiff be more expensive as well
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2004
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13,059
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Nottingham
You are paying more than I am, and I live in Herts.

Herts Council - up 2%
General Expense - up 2.8%
Social - up 2%
Special Expense - up 2.7%
P&Cc - up 7.6%

edit: bin charge comes in this year too I think.
that's 2018 figures, they would be a dream now. It's about £2100 this year
 
Caporegime
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13 Jan 2010
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Llaneirwg
The amount you pay for each band is fixed relative to the others.

In Wales:

A 6/9
B 7/9
C 8/9
D 9/9
E 11/9
F 13/9
G 15/9
H 18/9
I 21/9

The increase from D to E is the same as from E to F and F to G (an extra two ninths each time).

Didn't know that. It probably just feels more! :D
 
Soldato
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3 Apr 2009
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3,973
Location
Warrington
I had a band change this year because the previous owners added an extension to the property 10 years ago.
Apparently this change only comes into effect when the house changes ownership. Was a bit of a stealth increase for us on top of the already increasing local rates.
I had this last year - feels a bit unfair when the number of bedrooms etc hasn't even changed. Last sold price feels like a very crude way of deciding how much is due from each house. Was tempted to appeal at the time but didn't see the point as it sounds like they literally just scale the price back to 1990 pounds or whatever and see where it fits in the scale.
 
Caporegime
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
25,572
I had a band change this year because the previous owners added an extension to the property 10 years ago.
Apparently this change only comes into effect when the house changes ownership. Was a bit of a stealth increase for us on top of the already increasing local rates.

I had this last year - feels a bit unfair when the number of bedrooms etc hasn't even changed. Last sold price feels like a very crude way of deciding how much is due from each house. Was tempted to appeal at the time but didn't see the point as it sounds like they literally just scale the price back to 1990 pounds or whatever and see where it fits in the scale.

For England and Wales you can also check this on the government website I linked earlier. If an "Improvement indicator" is shown then there's a potential increase to the band when the property is sold.
 
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