uk council tax

Hey all,

Just wondering what happens with council tax in the following situation:

UK spouse=full time master's student
USC spouse= searching for work after degree is completed.

Are we meant to pay full council tax still?

Any help would be appreciated. This is for next may but still we're saving money at the minute and want to budget everything in.

Thank you!

As far as I am aware, the situation is:

The UK spouse is exempt from paying council tax due to being a student, while the USC spouse is responsible for paying the full council tax amount.

However, the USC spouse should be able to claim the 25% single person discount as they are the only non-exempt adult living in the property (students don't 'count' when it comes to calculating the number of people living in the property for council tax purposes).

Ah thanks KS that sounds better than paying the full price. I didn't realize masters students were exempt as well. I assumed they had to pay something towards it since they don't get the same type of financial assistance (loans, grants) as they do when doing undergrad.

That means we don't have to budget as much in which is great!

I didn't realize masters students were exempt as well. I assumed they had to pay something towards it since they don't get the same type of financial assistance (loans, grants) as they do when doing undergrad.

As far as I am aware all full-time students are exempt, no matter what they are studying for - I don't think it has anything to do with getting financial assistance while studying, because there are other groups of people (non-students) who don't have to pay council tax, and also there are certain types of properties that you do not have to pay council tax on.

Two of my friends have been full-time students for the last 8 years - bachelors, masters, PhDs and now PGCEs this year and they haven't paid any council tax so far.

From the direct.gov.uk council tax webpages

Who can get Council Tax discounts?

A full Council Tax bill is based on at least two adults living in a home. Certain groups of people don't pay Council Tax. So, if you live with any of them, they won’t be counted as an adult for Council Tax purposes.

These people include:

    * children under 18
    * people on apprentice schemes
    * 18 and 19-year-olds who are in full-time education
    * full-time college and university students
    * young people under 25 who receive funding from the Skills Funding Agency or Young People’s Learning Agency
    * student nurses
    * foreign language assistants registered with the British Council
    * people who have a severe mental disability
    * live-in carers who look after someone who isn't their partner, spouse or child (up to 18 years)
    * diplomats

To find out if you should get a Council Tax discount, count the number of adults who live in your home as their main home. Don't count anyone who is in one of the above groups.

If you are left with no one who counts as an adult, your Council Tax bill will be halved.
If one adult lives in your home, your Council Tax bill will be reduced by 25 per cent.

For houses that contain full-time students only, the bill will be reduced by 100 per cent (see ‘Council Tax exemptions’ below).

As far as I am aware all full-time students are exempt

Yep, I was a Master's student this past year and was exempt from paying council tax.