Council Tax reduction in Scotland: 2018-2019

Glossary and Things you Need to Know about this Release

Passporting benefits – receipt of one of the following benefits has the practical effect of automatically qualifying the recipient for full CTR:

• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance – paid to those who are unemployed and are on a low income.
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance – paid to those on a low income whose ability to work is limited by illness or disability.
• Income Support – paid to those on a low income and under state pension age.
• Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit) – paid to those on a low income who are over the qualifying age.

Applicable Amount – The amount of money that the government says is required for a household to live on. This is a personal allowance – which varies depending on age and household characteristics – with the potential for premiums to be added. For example, if the applicant is a carer, they would receive the relevant personal allowance plus the carer premium. Some examples of personal allowances and premiums for 2018-19 are given in Table 1.

Table 1: Examples of CTR Applicable Amounts components, 2018-19 ^1,2

1 – the child personal element rose by 25% on 1^st April 2017.

2 – This table lists some of the more common applicable amounts and is not comprehensive,

Excess Income – The amount left after deducting the household's applicable amount from their total income. The household's total income is calculated as the total income from employment, pensions and benefits (although some benefit income may be disregarded).

Income Assessment – Undergone by applicants not in receipt of a passporting benefit, and who have less than £16,000 in savings, to determine their eligibility for CTR. The 'means-test' assessment compares the household's assessable income (as defined under CTR) and their applicable amount.

• If total income (after income disregards) is less than the applicable amount then full CTR will be awarded.
• If total income (after income disregards) is greater than applicable amount then the household is expected to contribute 20 per cent of their excess income to their Council Tax bill. This results in a tapering effect, where CTR awards decrease as income (after income disregards) increases.

Full CTR – The amount of CTR awarded is equal to the full amount of Council Tax liability for the applicant. For example, if the applicant lived in a Band C house in Edinburgh, their weekly Council Tax liability was £21.14 in 2018-19. If they received full CTR, their CTR award would equal their liability (£21.14) and the amount of CT the household would have to pay would be zero.

Partial CTR – The household contributes 20 per cent of their excess income towards their Council Tax liability and the remainder of the liability is the CTR award. Figure 2 provides an illustrative example of a partial CTR calculation.