Council Tax Reduction scheme

If you are not currently in receipt of Council Tax Reduction and you and your partner, if you have one, are over state pension age and on a low income you can apply for support through this scheme. 

This is a national scheme and the eligibility criteria for it is set by Central Government. If you are eligible, you may receive support up to the full amount of your council tax charges for each day you are eligible.   

Apply for Council Tax Reduction

If you, and your partner if you have one, are of working age, on a low income and receiving Universal Credit you may be eligible under this scheme. 

We will use the information provided to us by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to work out how much reduction you are eligible for. 

This is an income banded scheme so small changes in your income won’t always mean a change in the amount of council tax reduction you receive.

The information below shows the income that will, and will not, be used to work out how much income you have for general living expenses, including council tax. 

Income available for general expenses and used to calculate eligibility

• Net UC payment - Balance of the UC payment after deducting the value of the UC Housing Costs, Disabled Child, Carers, Limited capacity for work and Childcare elements
• Earnings - Net monthly earnings including any overtime or back pay
• Unearned income - Examples include private pensions, state pension, carers allowance (this list is not exhaustive)

Income provided for additional circumstances and not used in the calculation of eligibility

• Disability benefits and other government administered allowances - Examples include PIP/DLA and Attendance Allowance, Child Benefits, War Pensions, Cold weather payments

The scheme has four band categories:

• Single claimants
• Couple claimants
• Families with one child (including lone parent families)
• Families with two or more children (including lone parent families)

You can use the table below to find out the percentage your bill will be reduced by for each day that your income is between the lower and upper threshold of an income band for your category of household. You will be required to pay the remaining percentage of your bill. 

2025/2026

Single claimants

Couple claimants

Families with one child

Families with two or more children

Other adults living with you

If any other adults live with you, and your partner if you have one, the amount of Council Tax Reduction you receive may be reduced. These adults are called non-dependents. If you have a non-dependent living with you, the amount of support you receive will be reduced by £7 for each week that they live with you. This is called a non-dependent deduction. 

We will not make a deduction if you or your partner are:

• Registered blind;
• Receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Care Component at the middle or higher rate;
• Receiving Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Daily Living Component; or
• Receiving Attendance Allowance

We will not make a deduction if the non-dependent living with you is:

• In education or training (student);
• Under 21;
• Receiving Pension Credit;
• Receiving the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at the middle or highest rate;
• Receiving the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP);
• Receiving Attendance Allowance (AA);
• Receiving Carers Allowance (CA); or
• Responsible for a child under five 

We will automatically work out whether a deduction should apply using the information on your Universal Credit claim. 

Apply for Council Tax Reduction

You can apply for this scheme until 31 March 2025 if you are of working age,  on a low income and not yet receiving Universal Credit. 

On 1 April 2025, if you are receiving income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the amount of Council Tax Reduction you receive will continue to be assessed using the eligibility criteria for our ‘Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2024/2025’ until your ESA claim is migrated to Universal Credit. 

From 1 April 2025, if you do not receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), to be eligible for Council Tax Reduction you should have a Universal Credit claim. If you do not have a current Universal Credit, you are self-employed and you claim Council Tax Reduction under this scheme, your claim will be calculated using the Minimum Income Floor (MIF).

Use our Better Off Eligibility Calculator to find out if you could be eligible, and apply, for Universal Credit and any other benefits. The calculator is quick, easy and free to use and the details you provide are anonymous. 

Apply for Council Tax Reduction  

You will be automatically eligible for this scheme for six months from 1 April 2025 if you are receiving Universal Credit; were in receipt of Council Tax Reduction in Salford on 31 March 2025; and the amount of support you would get under the new ‘Working age - income band scheme for households receiving Universal Credit’ is more than 20% less than the support you received under the ‘Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2024/2025’ scheme. You cannot make an application for this scheme.

Our benefits calculator will help you find out what benefits you can claim.
The calculator is free to use, and the details you provide are anonymous.
Before you start, make sure you have information about your savings, income, pensions and existing benefits (for you and your partner).

If you run out of time, you can save your calculation and come back to it later, and pick up right where you left off.

Use our Benefits Calculator

It is very important that you let us know immediately if you have a change in your circumstances, including moving home, as you may receive too little or too much benefit. 

It is an offence not to tell us about any change of circumstance that affects your benefit. This should be done no later than one month for Housing Benefit or 21 days for Council Tax Reduction from the date your circumstances change. If you do not do this, we may take action against you which could include imposing a penalty, caution or court action. If we've paid you too much benefit, you will probably have to pay it back.

Report a change of circumstances

If you already receive Council Tax Reduction, sign up to our email notifications and you will get an email about benefit decision notices made on your claim(s). This is a great way to keep track of all your benefit notices and you can also view them online. This is not only convenient but great for the environment as it reduces printing.

Register for online letters and then select ‘Your online letters’ when you have decision notices to read.

If you are in receipt of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Universal Credit, or a Discretionary Housing Payment, you can view the details of your claim, see payments and entitlement details online at Your Claim Summary.

Register now

A detailed explanation can be provided by the council on request and if you are not satisfied after receiving this information or you do not receive this information within two months of your request you can appeal directly to the Valuation Tribunal.

You can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal against your council’s decision about:

• Whether you are entitled to a Council Tax Reduction
• How much of a reduction the council has awarded you under the local scheme

The tribunal cannot hear appeals about what is in the council’s scheme, only about the way the scheme has been applied in your case.

You can do this by contacting the Valuation Tribunal to submit an online appeal or to download an appeal form. Their telephone number for any queries you may have is 0300 123 2035.

From 1 April 2025, if you claim Council Tax Reduction, you are self-employed and have been trading for more than 52 weeks, a ‘minimum income floor’ may be applied to your income. You will be assumed to be receiving income to the value of the national living wage minus tax and national insurance for someone working 35 hours a week if your income is below this level. If you pay into a private pension, we can disregard half of the amount you pay into it.  

Independent money advice is available from a number of organisations including Money Helper, customers can also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or the council's Welfare Rights and Debt Advice Service for advice.

Our BetterOff in Salford team is here to help everyone in the city with the cost-of-living crisis and to find ways for residents and businesses to become better off. 

On our BetterOff page you can find out how you can drop in and see the BetterOff team for in-person support, use our free to use eligibility calculator to check out what benefits you may be able to get, access help to get back on track with your council tax and get information about emergency and crisis support. 

BetterOff page

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