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Information & guidance
Following public consultation, it has been decided to change how we calculate Council Tax Support for working age applicants from April 2026.
A summary of how Council Tax Support will be assessed follows, this cannot cover every detail but will give an overview of how it works.
In order to be awarded Council Tax Support you will need to first apply and we can backdate this application by up to three months.
Capital limit
The capital limit of the scheme is £10,000. If your capital is above this amount you will not be entitled to any Council Tax Support.
If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, we will use assessment of your capital made by the DWP when calculating your Universal Credit award.
Band limit when calculating an award
Council Tax Support is limited to the value of a Council Tax Band D property. If you are in a property in a higher band, we will limit the maximum award as if your property was band D instead.
Non-dependent deductions
There is a standard deduction of £10 per week for a non-dependent or non-dependent couple.
No deduction will be made if the applicant, or their partner if they have one, are in receipt of adult disability payment, armed forced independence payment, attendance allowance (or a state benefit treated as such), disability living allowance care component, personal independence payment daily living component, person age disability payment.
No deduction will be made if the applicant, or their partner if they have one, are registered are severely sight impaired.
No deduction will be made if the non-dependant is less than 18 years of age, is a full time student, is a member of the armed forces away on operations, is receiving state pension credit, income support, income-based jobseekers allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or entitled to Universal Credit and does not have any earned income, or is a disregarded person for the purposes of a council tax discount.
Award bands
The level of award is based on what your income is based on your household and the income we take into account.
| Income band | Single | Couple | Family with 1 child | Family with 2+ children | Discount | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | £0.00 to £109.00 | £0.00 to £164.00 | £0.00 to £246.00 | £0.00 to £327.00 | 100% | ||||
| Band 2 | £109.01 to £184.00 | £164.01 to £239.00 | £246.01 to £321.00 | £327.01 to £402.00 | 75% | ||||
| Band 3 | £184.01 to £259.00 | £239.01 to £314.00 | £321.01 to £396.00 | £402.01 to £477.00 | 50% | ||||
| Band 4 | £259.01 to £334.00 | £314.01 to £389.00 | £396.01 to £471.00 | £477.01 to £552.00 | 25% | ||||
What incomes are taken into account
In this scheme the following incomes are used to determine which band an applicant falls in:
- earnings
- self-employed earnings
- Universal Credit and an applicant’s income as assessed by the DWP (this will have a number of adjustments applied to it)
- State retirement pension and equivalents
- private pensions and annuities
- any rental income
- voluntary or charitable payments
- maintenance payments not received in respect of a child
- insurance payments against loss of income (this does not include insurance payments to cover mortgage payments)
- any payments from overseas except those equivalent to a UK disability benefit.
In receipt of Universal Credit and not working
This will place you into Band 1 and you will be awarded 100% if your capital is not above the capital limit of £10,000.
This award will still be limited to a band D and subject to any non-dependant deduction that would apply.
This accounts for the majority of our working age applicants currently.
In receipt of Universal Credit and working
The award will be based on where your household and income fall within the award bands.
To get a weekly figure from your Universal Credit incomes we will multiply the monthly award by 12 and then divide by 52.
From your Universal Credit entitlement, we will deduct amounts for Housing Element, Disabled Child Element, Childcare Element, Carer Element and the Limited Capability for Work Element included in the assessment of your award. We will also deduct any amount for transitional protection. These deductions can only reduce the Universal Credit to nil.
Not receiving Universal Credit
If you are receiving income related Employment and Support Allowance you will be given a Band 1 award, and any capital will be fully disregarded.
If you are not entitled to Universal Credit and do not receive income related Employment and Support Allowance, we will use the incomes we take into account and award any entitlement based on where you are placed in the award bands.
If you are working and paying childcare costs then we may also allow a disregard from your earnings based on how much childcare costs you pay, this is subject to the rules in the scheme and limited to up to £175 for one child and £300 if paying for childcare for two of more children.
Kent County Council Care Leavers aged 21 to 24
If you are a KCC Care Leaver aged 21 to 24 and your award would normally fall within band 2, 3 or 4 we will instead award you as if you were in Band 1.
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