Don't forget your Voter ID
If you are voting in person in the General Election on Thursday 4 July, you will need to take an accepted form of photo ID with you.
Council Tax is a tax you pay to your local council, so that – depending on which type of council they are – they can deliver services like:
The table below details examples of some of the services that we manage, and comparable services that Suffolk County Council manage. It intends to illustrate the differences in responsibilities that the two councils have. Your Council Tax will payments may go towards any of these services.
Examples of local services managed by Mid Suffolk District Council |
Examples of comparable local services managed by Suffolk County Council |
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Rubbish and recycling collections, and clearing fly-tipping on public land | Waste disposal (disposal of household waste, and the management of recycling centres) |
Street cleansing and mechanical sweeping | Street lighting, traffic signals and pedestrian crossings |
Planning applications | Planning applications for mineral developments (for example, quarrying) |
Usually, you will have to pay Council Tax if you are aged 18 or over, and own or rent a home.
There is one Council Tax bill per household (this could be a house, bungalow, flat, maisonette, mobile home or houseboat).
Your Council Tax bill assumes that at least two people live in your household. If you are a single person household, you can apply for a single person discount (which is a 25% reduction).
The hierarchy of liability for paying Council Tax is as follows:
The person at the top - or nearest to the top of the hierarchy list - is the person liable for Council Tax.
The amount of Council Tax that you pay depends on two things:
Your Council Tax bill will provide a breakdown of who your money will be paid to. In Mid Suffolk, your payment is split between:
We collect Council Tax and then pass on the relevant amounts to the other recipients.
Money raised from Council Tax is used to make up the difference between:
If you disagree with the Council Tax band your property falls under, you will need to contact the Valuation Office Agency and appeal it. You can only make an appeal if you have been the property's Council Tax payer for less than six months.
Please note: Making an appeal - of any kind - does not mean that you can stop paying Council Tax.
If your appeal is successful, you will be refunded any Council Tax that you have overpaid.
Council Tax can be paid once a year, in two half yearly instalments or in ten monthly instalments. Most people pay for their Council Tax in ten monthly instalments.
If you would like to split your payments further, you are also able to pay for your Council Tax in twelve monthly instalments. To arrange this, please complete our Council Tax enquiry form online.
The easiest way to pay Council Tax is via Direct Debit.
You can arrange to have payment collected from your account on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 22nd or 28th of each month.
If you already pay by Direct Debit - and you would like to change the date that your payment is taken on - you will need to contact us.
If two attempts have been made to take your Direct Debit payment – and both have failed – no further attempt will be made. If this has happened to you, you will need to set up your Direct Debit again.
You can pay your Council Tax bill online, with a debit or credit card. There are no surcharges for using this service.
When you pay, you will need your Council Tax reference number to hand. This will be eight digits long and will start with the number '5'.
The reference number can be accessed via your Council Tax bill.
Every year, we produce guides to Council Tax bills (or eBills). These are mockup bills that customers can use to better understand the structure of their bill – and where to find different pieces of information.
You can access the guides via our Council Tax and Parish Charges webpage.
You can also pay Council Tax:
For further information about these methods of paying, please access our Paying Council Tax in Babergh webpage.
You are able to manage your Council Tax online, by setting up an online account (called a ‘MyAccount’).
You will need your most recent Council Tax bill to hand. You will need to quote your Council Tax account reference number. This will be eight digits long and will start with the number '5'.
The reference number can be accessed via your Council Tax bill.
Every year, we produce guides to Council Tax bills (or eBills). These are mockup bills that customers can use to better understand the structure of their bill – and where to find different pieces of information.
You can access the guides via our Council Tax and Parish Charges webpage.
You need an online account to sign up for paperless billing (eBilling). Please visit our Sign up for eBilling webpage for more information.
There is a lot of support available to help people who may face difficulties in paying their Council Tax bill.
We operate a Council Tax reduction (CTR) scheme. You may receive CTR if you are on a low income (even if you are working). CTR is not a payment, but a reduction to your bill total.
Whether you qualify for CTR – and how much reduction you may be awarded – will depend on:
If you qualify, you can submit a CTR claim online. The claim does not have to be made in one single session.
When you make a claim, we will let you know what evidence you will need to provide. Examples of evidence you might need to include are:
Discretionary Financial Assistance (DFA) is a payment made to you by the Councils, that you can use to reduce your Council Tax bill. DFA is intended to help people who are experiencing a short-term, exceptional financial problem. These payments come from a limited fund every year and are almost always ‘one-off’ payments.
DFA can be paid to anyone who pays Council Tax – this is regardless of whether the customer receives Council Tax Reduction or any other type of exemption or discount.
We independently review every DFA request. We will look at things like:
Generally, when an exemption applies – no Council Tax will need to be paid.
If an exemption doesn’t apply, you may qualify for a discount (or disregard). Qualifying for either would mean that you receive a reduction on your bill. Sometimes, exemptions and discounts can be backdated.
Exemptions can be split into two categories – people-based exemptions and property-based exemptions.
In some cases, people who have a disregard may qualify for an exemption. An example of this is where everyone who lives in a property is a full-time student.
Every situation is individual. The Councils will be able to tell you about any discounts, exemptions or other financial support that you may be entitled to.
For information about the reductions, exemptions, discounts and other support we can provide, please visit the Exemptions, discounts and premiums section of our website.
If you have moved house – within the district, or out of it – you can tell us about this change online. You do not need an online account to do this.
When you access the link above, scroll down on the page to the heading ‘Tell us that you have moved home’.
Under ‘View change of address services’, you will be presented with the following options:
Option | Select this option if... |
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I am moving within ___ District Council’s area | You are moving house within the district you currently live in |
I am moving out of ___ District Council’s area | You are moving house outside of the district you currently live in |
I am moving into / I am new to ___ District Council’s area | You are moving to the district of Babergh for the first time (you can also select this option if you have previously lived within either district, but moved away) |
I am moving to live with parents/family or friends where I will not be liable for Council Tax | You are moving in with family or friends (or other) who live in Babergh, but you will not personally be liable for Council Tax |
I am moving to live in a property where I only pay rent and have a tenancy or licence for the part of the property (a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)) | You are moving into a HMO where you will not personally be liable for Council Tax. An HMO is a house rented by at least three people - who are not from one ‘household’ - who share living areas (for example, the kitchen) |
If you are moving house within the district and you currently receive Council Tax Reduction, you will also need to complete our online change in circumstances form.
There are two ways you can tell us about a name change.
You can sign in to your Council Tax account online and update your personal details there.
If you do not have an online account, you need to notify us of a name change by phoning us.
Phone 0300 1234000 and select Option 2 to speak with us about Council Tax, Housing Benefit or housing rents.
If you need to report a change in circumstances which may affect any Council Tax Reduction you currently receive – you need to tell us straightaway.
Examples of things you need to report are:
You can let us know via our online form:
Report a change in circumstances online
You do not need to complete the form in one sitting. When you open the form, you will be provided with a form reference (a 12 character code that is made up of letters and numbers). If you wish to return to the form later, you will be able to access it via your form reference.
Once you have reported a relevant change - and your claim has been accepted and registered on the system, we will provide you with a seven digit claim reference number. This can take up to four weeks from original submission.
You might also need to provide evidence of your change in circumstances.
Examples of evidence you might need to provide are:
You can submit evidence online. When you submit evidence online, you will need to quote your seven digit claim reference number.
If we don’t learn of a change in circumstances within 21 days, we may impose a fine of £70.
For further information, please visit our Report a change webpage.
Once a death has been registered with Suffolk County Council, you will be able to use the government’s ‘Tell Us Once’ service. Once you have provided this service with the relevant information, it will notify:
about the death. You will not need to do anything else or contact us directly – we will update our records (including Council Tax information) as appropriate.
The registrar who registers the death will tell you how to access Tell Us Once (they will also give you a unique reference number).
When you receive your unique reference number, you must use Tell Us Once within 28 days.
Visit our Register a death webpage for more information.
Read further information about the Tell Us Once service (from GOV.UK)
If you would like further help or assistance, please contact us.
Phone 0300 1234000 and:
You can also contact us online, via our online Contact Us form. You will be able to direct your message or query to our Council Tax team.
If you would like: