Council Tax information

Online services

To save you time, we have a number of services that are available for you online:

• apply to pay your Council Tax via Direct Debit by visiting our website at https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/directdebitform
• notify us of an address change by visiting our website at https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/ctax-change-address
• apply via https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/ctax-exemption-apply if you believe you are entitled to an exemption or discount

Council Tax banding and appeals

The amount of Council Tax you pay varies depending on the band that your house, or other dwelling, has been put into by the Valuation Office Agency. These are based on open market values at 1 April 1991. You can appeal direct to the Valuation Office Agency yourself without incurring any initial costs. You can contact them via telephone on 03000 501501 or the website https://www.gov.uk/contact-voa.

Making an appeal does not mean you can withhold payment of Council Tax. If your appeal is successful, future payments will be reduced and any overpayments refunded. For further information on how to appeal, please refer to the Council's website at https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/council-tax.

Local Council Tax Support

Local Council Tax Support helps people on low income pay their Council Tax. You and your partner may be working, retired or on benefits. If you rent or own your home, or if you have a mortgage and you have less than £16,000 in the bank/building society or other savings, depending on your weekly income you could be entitled to receive help paying your Council Tax bill. Some types of income are not taken into consideration when calculating what help you may be entitled to, such as Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, war pensions etc.

If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, this will not include any help towards your Council Tax so you will need to apply separately to Great Yarmouth Borough Council for help towards your Council Tax.

We may also be able to help if you are the only person liable to pay Council Tax for your home, but you have another resident over 18, other than your partner or a joint tenant, who may be on low income themselves. We disregard your personal income and savings but apply those of the other resident. To see how much support you may be entitled to, please visit our website https://great-yarmouthctr.entitledto.co.uk/home/start where you can access our local Council Tax Support calculator, and then submit a claim online at our website https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/ctax-reduction-apply.

If you think you may qualify for help, you can also contact us by telephoning Customer Services on 01493 846291 or by visiting us at Greyfriars House, Greyfriars Way, Great Yarmouth.

Reductions for the disabled

Council Tax may be reduced for homes that have an extra room set aside to meet the needs of a disabled resident or if a disabled resident needs to use a wheelchair indoors. The relief is equivalent to reducing the valuation band to the one below and ensures that disabled people do not pay more because of a need for extra space. The reduction includes band A dwellings. If you think any of these may apply, please contact Customer Services on 01493 846244.

Do I qualify for a discount?

The full Council Tax assumes there are two or more adults living in a dwelling. If only one adult lives in a dwelling, the Council Tax is reduced by 25%. People in the following groups may not be liable for Council Tax and may not count towards the number of adults resident in a dwelling:

• full-time students and non-British spouses of students, student nurses, apprentices and Youth Training trainees
• patients resident in hospital
• people who are being looked after in care homes
• people who are severely mentally impaired
• people who are staying in certain hostels or night shelters
• 18- and 19-year-olds who are at or have just left school
• certain types of care workers, usually working for charities
• people caring for someone with a disability who is not a spouse, partner or child under 18
• members of religious communities (monks and nuns)
• people in prison (except those in prison for non-payment of Council Tax or a fine)
• people with diplomatic privileges or immunities
• members and dependents of international headquarters and defence organisations
• members and dependants of visiting forces
• annexes occupied by certain relatives or unoccupied annexes where they are used as part of the main residence

If you think you qualify for a discount you can apply at https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/council-tax.

Is my property exempt from Council Tax?

You may be entitled to an exemption from Council Tax if your property is:

Unoccupied

• empty and owned by a charity (up to six months only)
• left empty by a person in detention
• left empty by a patient in a hospital or a care home
• left empty following the death of the resident
• dwelling where occupation is prohibited by law or an Act of Parliament
• empty and held for occupation by a minister of religion to perform his/her duties
• left empty by people receiving care
• left empty by people providing care
• left empty by a student who owns the property
• unoccupied and in the possession of the mortgagee
• left empty by a bankrupt
• an empty caravan pitch or boat mooring
• an unoccupied annexe unable to be let separately

Occupied

• halls of residence
• occupied by students
• occupied by the Ministry of Defence for armed forces accommodation
• occupied and owned, solely or partly, by a member of a visiting force
• occupied only by persons who are under 18
• occupied only by persons who are severely mentally impaired
• an annexe or similar self-contained property occupied by certain dependant relatives of the resident(s) living in the main dwelling
• dwellings which are the main residence of a person with diplomatic privilege or immunity

Circumstances where other discounts may apply

1. Pitches with a caravan and moorings with a boat that are unoccupied along with the following properties that are furnished, and no-one's main home can receive a 50% discount:
   - certain job-related dwellings
   - certain geographically defined dwellings
2. A person may also be eligible for a discretionary discount under certain circumstances.

Other charges for empty properties

• Full Council Tax is payable on empty and unfurnished properties that are uninhabitable, even if they require major repair works or structural alterations.
• Any property empty for two years or more will be subject to a Council Tax levy of 200%, meaning this will add an additional 100% to the full Council Tax bill.
• Any property empty for five years or more will be subject to a Council Tax levy of 300%, meaning this will add an additional 200% to the full Council Tax bill.
• Any property empty for ten years or more will be subject to a Council Tax Levy of 400%, meaning this will add an additional 300% to the full Council Tax bill.

Information supplied with demand notices

Other Council Tax information that is required with the Council Tax bill can now be found on the websites below:

• Great Yarmouth Borough Council: https://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/council-tax
• Norfolk County Council: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/counciltax
• Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk (OPCCN): https://www.norfolk-pcc.gov.uk/

A hard copy is available on request by writing to or telephoning the Council.

Liability, exemptions, discounts and premiums for Council Tax

You can also appeal against the Council's decision that you are liable for Council Tax, that a property should or should not be exempt, whether a discount or premium should or should not be allowed, or any decision taken by the Council in relation to local Council Tax Support. In the first instance, appeals of this nature should be addressed to: Revenues, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Town Hall, Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2QF.

Statement concerning adult social care funding

The Secretary of State made an offer to adult social care authorities. ('Adult social care authorities' are local authorities which have functions under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, namely county councils in England, district councils for an area in England for which there is no county council, London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London and the Council of the Isles of Scilly.)

The offer was the option of an adult social care authority being able to charge an additional 'precept' on its Council Tax without holding a referendum, to assist the authority in meeting its expenditure on adult social care from the financial year 2016-17. It was originally made in respect of the financial years up to and including 2019-20. If the Secretary of State chooses to renew this offer in respect of a particular financial year, this is subject to the approval of the House of Commons.'

For more information please visit https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/counciltax.

Contact us

For billing enquiries, reminder letters, cancellation letters, change of address and discounts/exemptions:

• email: ctax@great-yarmouth.gov.uk
• telephone: 01493 846244

For recovery enquiries, summons, liability orders, payment arrangements or attachment of earnings/benefits notices:

• email: recovery@great-yarmouth.gov.uk
• telephone: 01493 846610

Please note

Our opening hours for enquiries are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm except the first Thursday each month, when the office closes at 3pm for staff training.