Every council tax bill starts from the same building blocks: a fixed band, a Band D figure built from several authorities’ charges, and a set order in which discounts and reductions come off. Knowing the parts explains both an ordinary bill and an unusual rise. This page covers council tax in England.
Bands A to H, and the 1991 valuation
Council tax bands run from A to H, and each property was placed in a band according to what it was worth on a single date: 1 April 1991. GOV.UK confirms bands are based on that value, not the property’s current price (GOV.UK, Challenge your Council Tax band, checked 1 November 2026).
The Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets the date in law, describing it as “the appropriate date” for the valuation list (Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 21, checked 1 November 2026). The same Act sets the England value ranges for each band:
| Band | 1991 value range (England) | Ratio to Band D |
|---|---|---|
| A | Up to £40,000 | 6/9 |
| B | £40,001–£52,000 | 7/9 |
| C | £52,001–£68,000 | 8/9 |
| D | £68,001–£88,000 | 9/9 |
| E | £88,001–£120,000 | 11/9 |
| F | £120,001–£160,000 | 13/9 |
| G | £160,001–£320,000 | 15/9 |
| H | Over £320,000 | 18/9 (double D) |
Source: Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5, checked 15 September 2026. A property built since 1991 is given a notional value as if it had existed then, by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
The ratios, and what they mean for the bill
The Act fixes the proportion between bands as 6:7:8:9:11:13:15:18, with Band D as the reference point at 9 (Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 5, checked 1 November 2026). Every other band is that fraction of the Band D charge set for the area, whatever that figure happens to be locally.
An illustrative example, using a round Band D figure of £2,000 rather than any real council’s charge: Band A would be £1,333 (6/9 of £2,000), Band E would be £2,444 (11/9), and Band H would be £4,000, exactly double Band D. A real council’s own Band D figure is on its annual bill or its website.
What makes up the Band D figure
The Band D figure is not one council’s charge. It is the sum of several authorities’ charges, collected together on the same bill. The Act calls county councils, police and fire authorities “major precepting authorities,” and parish councils “local precepting authorities” (Local Government Finance Act 1992, s.39, checked 1 November 2026).
In a two-tier area, that typically means the district or borough’s own charge, plus a county council precept, a police and crime commissioner precept, a fire and rescue precept, and, where the property sits in a parished area, a parish or town council precept. A unitary council collects its own charge alongside the police, fire and any parish precepts, without a separate county tier.
An adult social care precept, charged by authorities with social care duties, sits within this structure too. From 2025/26, billing authorities no longer have to show it as its own disaggregated line: GOV.UK’s information letter on the change says bills need only show “a single line for its total cash charge and annual increase, with one cash figure and one percentage figure” (GOV.UK, Council Tax information letter 1/2025, checked 15 September 2026). A bill that no longer itemises it separately has not necessarily stopped charging it.
Why the bill went up this year
An authority can raise its council tax without a referendum only up to a limit set each year. For 2026/27, most authorities with adult social care duties must hold one if their rise is 5% or more: 2% for adult social care, 3% for everything else.
The report sets higher limits for seven named councils, including 9% for North Somerset, Shropshire and Worcestershire, and 6.75% for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (2026-27 Referendum Principles Report, checked 1 November 2026).
A council’s own Band D figure for the year, and the year before, is published in GOV.UK’s annual council tax levels statistics.
The order discounts and reductions come off
The Act applies the steps in order. First comes the band charge itself. Discounts, such as the 25% single person discount, and exemptions come off next. Any other reduction follows. Only then is Council Tax Reduction applied, to what is left after every discount (Local Government Finance Act 1992, sections 10 and 13A, checked 1 November 2026).
In England, the prescribed requirements for pension-age schemes set the maximum reduction at 100% of the council tax payable, “subject to any discount” (Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012, Schedule 1, paragraph 7, checked 1 November 2026).
That order matters for anyone checking their own bill: Council Tax Reduction is calculated on the discounted amount, not the full band charge, so it cannot itself take an already-discounted bill below what the reduction scheme allows. Our Council Tax Reduction hub covers the pension-age scheme, and the single person discount page covers the first discount in the sequence.
Paying in instalments
The default is 10 monthly instalments across the year, set by regulation (Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, Schedule 1, paragraph 2, checked 1 November 2026). GOV.UK confirms the same figure: “The cost is usually split into 10 monthly payments” (GOV.UK, How Council Tax works: working out your Council Tax, checked 1 November 2026).
You can ask to pay over 12 months instead. The regulations give a liable person the right to request 12 monthly instalments in writing, made either before or after the demand notice, and for the current year or the year following (Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, regulation 21, checked 1 November 2026). GOV.UK puts it plainly: contact the council if you are struggling, and it can spread payments over 12 months instead of 10.
If you miss an instalment
In England, missing an instalment means the council must send a reminder notice, giving 7 days to pay the amount shown; since April 2026 councils in Wales may send one (Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, regulation 23, checked 1 November 2026). Pay within the 7 days and the remaining instalments carry on as set out on the bill.
Miss that window and the right to pay by instalments can be lost, making the year’s whole balance due. A second reminder in the same year removes the instalment right after any further missed payment, without a further 7-day notice. Our summons and backdated bills page covers what follows a missed reminder, including the court stage and the six-year limit on enforcement.
Water charges are separate in England
Water and sewerage are not part of the council tax bill in England. Water companies have their own statutory power to set and collect charges, entirely separate from the council tax scheme (Water Industry Act 1991, s.142, checked 1 November 2026). A water bill and a council tax bill are two demands from two different bodies.
Challenging your band
A band you believe is wrong is challenged through the VOA, not the council. GOV.UK sets out two routes: a legal right to challenge, called “making a proposal,” and a band review, which applies when you do not have that legal right (GOV.UK, Challenge your Council Tax band, checked 1 November 2026).
The legal right applies only if you have been paying council tax on the property for less than six months, or the VOA changed the band in the last six months. Everyone else can ask for a band review instead, which the VOA will look at but which carries no route to appeal.
A decision on a legal-right challenge can take up to four months; a band review can take up to 12 months. Only a legal-right challenge carries a right of appeal to a tribunal, within three months of the decision in England, or four months in Wales, where the equivalent is the Valuation Tribunal for Wales.
If you or someone you live with is disabled and the home is larger than you would need otherwise, the Disabled Band Reduction Scheme charges the bill at the next band down: a Band D home pays the Band C rate. A home already in Band A gets a 17% discount instead (GOV.UK, How Council Tax works: discounts for disabled people, checked 1 November 2026).
Council tax bands in Scotland are checked and challenged through the Scottish Assessors, a different body from the VOA (GOV.UK, Check your Council Tax band, checked 1 November 2026).