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Want to see some injustice in regards to council tax?

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So, we live somewhere where the council seem to do nothing other than a truly awful job, and wages are low.

 

Look what one of the most wealthy boroughs in the country are paying in council tax compared to us. Is anyone else as outraged at this as me? The difference is massive. Those in the A band in Sheffield pay nearly double that of those in Kensington!

 

Kensington/Chelsea council tax bands:

 

Council tax rates by band

2017/2018

A £708.01

B £826.01

C £944.02

D £1062.02

E £1298.03

F £1534.03

G £1770.03

H £2124.04

 

And then the Sheffield rates:

 

Council Tax Band

Annual Council Tax Payable 2017/2018

A £1,103.65

B £1,287.60

C £1,471.54

D £1,655.48

E £2,023.36

F £2,391.25

G £2,759.13

H £3,310.96

 

How the hell is this right?! Why do we pay so much more than those who can afford to live in areas stuffed with mansions?!

Edited by paula4sheff

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Guest busdriver1

greater density of population giving a similar gross yield is the most likely reason.

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.....and there's always the fact that your direct neighbour, living in a house the same size, will be in a lower band than you, simply because when they dished out the bands they did it quickly and based it on such ludicrous things as whether the house had a shed or double glazing.

 

---------- Post added 12-10-2017 at 12:45 ----------

 

greater density of population giving a similar gross yield is the most likely reason.

 

That doesn't work though- some very sparsely populated areas of the country also pay low council tax.

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I should imagine that K&C have proportionally fewer people who need social services, viz. children, elderly and vulnerable adults. If you want to know where your money goes look here: Council Tax

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You might be right.....so it's poor areas paying more to help the poor?

 

I don't know- this has really got to me. It bothers me massively.

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You might be right.....so it's poor areas paying more to help the poor?

 

I don't know- this has really got to me. It bothers me massively.

 

You could say that about so many things though.

 

Why should people without kids pay the same taxes as people with kids? Those people's taxes are used to fund schools that they will never use. (Or rather they used them as kids themselves, but won't for their own kids). Why should people in low crime areas of Sheffield pay the same council tax/police subsidy as people who live in higher crime areas.

 

Without setting individual council tax based on individual circumstances which is impossible, there will always be some level of disparity.

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You could say that about so many things though.

 

Why should people without kids pay the same taxes as people with kids? Those people's taxes are used to fund schools that they will never use. (Or rather they used them as kids themselves, but won't for their own kids). Why should people in low crime areas of Sheffield pay the same council tax/police subsidy as people who live in higher crime areas.

 

Without setting individual council tax based on individual circumstances which is impossible, there will always be some level of disparity.

 

Absolutely. So why should people in Kensington/Chelsea pay so much less than us in Sheffield? Surely the system is meant to be equal?

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Absolutely. So why should people in Kensington/Chelsea pay so much less than us in Sheffield? Surely the system is meant to be equal?

 

I've no idea what it's assessed on - you'd need an FOI request to K&C for that.

 

If, as has been said, it's based on the fact that social services required are less in that area, and it's certainly possible, as it's a nice area, then wouldn't you feel angered if you were made to pay for something that wasn't your fault? I know I would.

 

Bear in mind also that many/most of the people in London, or rather in that area, are higher rate tax payers, paying either 40% or 45% of their salary to HMRC. I think they contribute enough already. Why hit them yet again to support people 200 miles away?

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I've no idea what it's assessed on - you'd need an FOI request to K&C for that.

 

If, as has been said, it's based on the fact that social services required are less in that area, and it's certainly possible, as it's a nice area, then wouldn't you feel angered if you were made to pay for something that wasn't your fault? I know I would.

 

Bear in mind also that many/most of the people in London, or rather in that area, are higher rate tax payers, paying either 40% or 45% of their salary to HMRC. I think they contribute enough already. Why hit them yet again to support people 200 miles away?

 

We all pay for things that aren't our fault. I don't have kids, never will. and pay for schools for example. This seems a real case of 'one rule for them, one for us'. Why should people pay so much less or more council tax depending on where they live? Don't forget that there will be people in Sheffield paying the 40% tax rate too- if you are lucky enough to be earning so much money, that shouldn't mean your other bills are less!

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I've no idea what it's assessed on - you'd need an FOI request to K&C for that.

 

If, as has been said, it's based on the fact that social services required are less in that area, and it's certainly possible, as it's a nice area, then wouldn't you feel angered if you were made to pay for something that wasn't your fault? I know I would.

 

Bear in mind also that many/most of the people in London, or rather in that area, are higher rate tax payers, paying either 40% or 45% of their salary to HMRC. I think they contribute enough already. Why hit them yet again to support people 200 miles away?[/QUOTE]

 

There's probably a higher proportion of non-dom's with property in K&C than Sheffield who don't give HMRC a bean but use services in this country as well as more people who benefitted from a free university education before happily pulling that ladder up and enjoying non-means tested winter fuel payments.

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We all pay for things that aren't our fault. I don't have kids, never will. and pay for schools for example. This seems a real case of 'one rule for them, one for us'. Why should people pay so much less or more council tax depending on where they live? Don't forget that there will be people in Sheffield paying the 40% tax rate too- if you are lucky enough to be earning so much money, that shouldn't mean your other bills are less!

 

Quite simply because their council sets the bands at a lower rate. The bands look similarly spaced apart, just lower. Fair play to them. Their council are perhaps more competent, perhaps they have lower expenses, who knows. Their council can clearly cope on whatever the figures work out at - population multiplied by council tax equals budget. Good for them.

 

Am I angry about it? Not really. I can buy a very nice 4 bed house for £400k. My friend in Chiswick would pay about £1.2m. I can buy a pint for under a fiver in a pub. It's swings and roundabouts.

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Not forgetting Grenfall Tower is in the borough of K&C those tenants are hardly wealthy.

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