There are different rules for applicants of working age and applicants of pension age. This is all explained in our Council Tax Reduction Scheme:
- See the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2025 to 2026
- Download the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2024 to 2025 document
Working Age Scheme
Our scheme is reviewed each year.
For 2025-26 the Council has applied a banded approach to entitlement to reduce administration costs to providing this financial assistance to your Council Tax bill. The banded approach will;
- Provide fewer changes applied to your annual entitlement to create a stable approach to council tax collection for the year.
- Reduce the number of letters and new bills for Council tax, as each time a change is applied a new notification by law has to be sent to you.
- If you have a direct debit for the remaining amount after your Council Tax Reduction has been applied, this is less likely to change as changes to your award will only be made if your banding entitlement changes in year.
Your letters will not include an applicable amount anymore as this is not required in our scheme. For people who have both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction, your letters will look different.
Since 2013 Council Tax Reduction has no longer been a ‘benefit’ and administered by the local authorities for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), but a ‘discount’ and local authorities administer this award for the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Council's approach this year is to award a discount to the Council Tax charge based upon a percentage, to mirror other discounts within Council Tax legislation upon reducing the amount of council tax that needs to be paid.
We have continued to protect the following groups and principles within the scheme for 2025-26;
- Passported Benefit claims (where people are awarded Job Seekers Allowance-Income Based, Employment Support Allowance-Income Related and Income Support) will receive full Council Tax Reduction, less any non-dependant deductions.
- Protected Child Benefit payments. When we calculate the weekly amount of money which the household receives, this money is not included. This is the same as the previous years’ schemes.
- Capital levels are still used. Claimants who have access to more than £16,000 will not qualify for help towards their Council Tax bill. Claims which have between £6,000 and £15,999.99 will have a tariff income applied of £1 for every £250 above £6,000. This is matching the previous year’s scheme.
- Non-dependant deductions remain in our scheme and the deductions are based upon the band in which your entitlement to CTR is applied.
| Band | Your weekly income 2025/26 | Discount on council tax bill |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £0 - £500 | 100% |
| 2 | £500.01 - £575 | 75% |
| 3 | £575.01 - £650 | 50% |
| 4 | £650.01 - £700 | 25% |
| 5 | £700.01 and over | 0% |
| Gross income of non-dependant (weekly) | Non-dependant deduction rate |
|---|---|
|
£265.99 or less, not in work or working fewer than 16 hours |
£5.00 |
| £266-£462.99 | £10.20 |
| £463 to £576.99 | £12.80 |
| £577 and above | £15.35 |
Related content
Contact the Benefits Team
When contacting us about an existing claim, please remember to include your reference number in your email.
Address: Oxford City CouncilPO Box 10
Oxford
OX1 1EN
