Council tax

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The council tax subtopic covers local revenue raising powers of local authorities through council tax revenue. It also covers the mechanisms available to enforce payment.

The main means of local revenue raising are:

  1. •

    council tax

  2. •

    national non-domestic rates (NNDR)

Council tax was introduced as the primary source of collecting income from local residents by local authorities in England on 1 April 1993. The legislation also covers Wales, but the administration of council tax in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government. The council tax replaced the community charge (or, as it was more commonly known, the 'poll tax') which itself had replaced Domestic Rating in April 1990. It is a local domestic property-based tax levied by billing authorities on the basis of the broad capital valuation band

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