Council Tax

In the UK, the primary method that local governments use to fund things is called Council Tax. In essence, it's an occupancy tax that is levied on all employed persons who live in the district. There are various council tax "bands," which are based upon property value. Tax is assessed at a different amount for each band. The bands are fairly broad, so there can be a wide deviation in property values within a band.

Everyone pays council tax except for students and the unemployed. Getting registered as a student can take a bit of doing. Amanda and I submitted our paperwork to register as students over two weeks ago, and when I called today to check on the status of our filing for an exemption, they told me that they had mailed us a letter stating that both of our exemptions had been granted (hallelujah!) on Friday. I assume it will arrive tomorrow, which is the day after the council tax payment would have been due.

As an interesting note, if one or more people who live in a residence are students, but there is one person who is not, the council tax bill is reduced by 25%, and the remaining person/people is/are left to foot the bill for the remaining 75%. This provides a very strong incentive for students to live only with each other, or for one student to live with four or five young professionals. I don't quite understand the logic behind the system, but everyone here seems to either accept it or be resigned to it.