Council Tax Report Backed

Calls for regular council tax revaluations made by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are finding support among parties looking for greater transparency in the current council tax system.

RICS recommends that council tax needs to be assessed and evaluated at regular intervals to ensure full transparency and fairness.

Intervals of no more than five years have been recommended so as to make sure that changes in property value are taken into account. In this way the costs of home ownership, including mortgage repayments, home insurance and council tax, could be significantly reduced.

According to RICS head of UK public policy, Brian Berry, the current council tax structure could be maintained, with additional bands at the top and bottom to enable fairer redistribution.

"We would also like to see introduction of separate bands for inner London to reflect the unique shape of the property market," he added.

"The recommendation to abolish the saving limits in council tax benefits for pensioners is a positive step."

What is Council Tax?

Council tax is collected to pay for your local services such as education, policing and waste disposal.  It was introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the very unpopular POLL TAX.

Council tax has to be paid on all personal dwellings, be it a house, flat, mobile home or houseboat.  However don't assume that all households pay the same amount of council tax.

The amount of council tax you pay depends on your properties banding.  The bands range from A to H and were calculated on the value of your property in 1991 when the assessment was first done.

Individual councils decide annually on the amounts that each council tax band should pay.  Therefore, it is possible if you live in a band B house in Liverpool that you are paying a different amount to a friend living in a band B house in Norwich.

If you would like to know more about council tax why not ask AnswerBank Home and Garden.