South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 15/07/2015

South Gloucestershire Council is offering a short amnesty as it reviews the status of all households which currently claim a Single Person Discount on their Council Tax.

This review is to check that only those residents who are eligible to claim the Single Person Discount (SPD) – which gives a 25 per cent reduction in their bill – are doing so.

Across the district there are currently 30,000 households claiming the discount and these checks will help us to ensure the information that we hold is accurate.

Before this review, a short amnesty – which runs until Saturday 1 August 2015 – is available to encourage people to tell us about a change in their circumstance. For example, a single parent household where children have reached 18 but are still living at home, if you have rented out a spare room to a lodger or you have children who have come to live in the parental home after living away.

If people tell us before the deadline the discount will not be backdated to 1 April 2015. Failure to declare any changes by that date will result in action being taken on any discount incorrectly claimed.

Cllr John Goddard, Chair of Resources Sub Committee, said: “The majority of households claiming Single Person Discount for Council Tax are eligible to do so. However, there may be situations where a household’s circumstances have changed and they have not told us about this. We want to make sure that everyone receives the discounts they are entitled to so if you think this could apply to you then please get in touch with us during the amnesty period as it is your responsibility to make sure our records are up to date.”

Any residents who think they may be entitled to a discount, or those whose circumstances have changed for discounted Council Tax should contact us on 01454 868003, email counciltax@southglos.gov.uk or call into one of our One Stop Shops.