Council Tax

[mycats]

What exactly would you have to do so that you wouldnt have to pay council tax?
If you had a septic tank, generators, took your own rubbish away (or recycled it ) etc could they possible still make you pay it?
Obviously this would only work if you had your house out in the country away from people and services.
Could it be done?

[Pippa68]

You wouold still have to pay for your local police force and contribute to your local council. Whether you use them or not, there would still be the argument that you 'may' need them in the future..plus the fact that you have to pay for the ones who can't afford the full whack..

[B00]

Plus they'd use the argument that you enjoyed the privilege of street lights etc whenever you stepped out your front door.

You thinking of doing a 'Good Life' on us Cat?

[Ethel]

The police, fire service, schools, libraries, parks and leisure facilities, street cleaning, health and social care of the vulnerable, the registry office, consumer advice and protection.....

All this and more is paid for by Council Tax. So no, you can't opt out.

[mycats]

Cheers folks,
lol I would LOVE to Boo

[kwicky]

You can save money on your water rates by having a septic tank. We had one and the solids could be left a number of years with just the liquids draining away. You can't escape the bill entirely as they charge a percentage for environmental rainwater disposal. Modern septic tanks are different from the old pits though but the principal should be similar. They used to charge about �75 to empty our septic tank and some people only call out for this service every 6 years so worth it.

[antiguru]

I�m not sure you know what your council tax pays for! Certainly not mains drainage or power.

I live in a �house out in the country away from people and services� and I can tell you it makes no difference. We have no street lighting and the roads are poor. I don�t rely on the police for help (I�ve seen 2 in 6 years and that was after a crime) and I certainly don�t believe the fire brigade or ambulance would get here before it�s too late as we�re 30 minutes drive from the nearest centre. I don�t use local education, the library, social services and when I do get the council out to put rat poison down it costs me �40.

I pay over �2000 a year to get my rubbish collected. Badly.

[WendyS]

I think it's virtually impossible to opt out of "the system" these days. If you had access to running water ,solar panels and a wind turbine you might just be able to generate enough power to opt out of paying electricity bills and water rates to the utilities concerned. However, your district or borough council, who organise education, highways & street lighting, the police, libraries, refuse collection, etc would still claim that at some point you would be using some of their services. It would be nice to opt out of the services you don't use but I don't think it's ever likely to happen/

[kwicky]

This will give you an idea what your council tax pays for:

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/counciltax/servic es.htm

[mycats]

Ah right, cheers kwicky, much more than I thought