What is the council tax band I fall within?

How can you find out if your council tax band is sufficient to get a PS150 rebate?

What is the council tax band I fall within?

To ease the crisis in living costs, the Treasury will announce a PS150 tax rebate for all residents of bands A through D.
 

In an effort to reduce the cost of living, low income households will receive a PS150 tax rebate.

Soaring inflation is affecting people with lower incomes, which has led to the Bank of England raising interest rates for the 2nd consecutive month.

The situation will get worse if the energy price caps increase in April.
 

As a support measure, the Treasury announced a PS150 tax rebate for all residents of bands A through D.

This is how you can find out what band you are in and if you will be eligible to receive support payments.

Which council tax band do I belong to?

You can determine your council tax band if you live in England and Wales by entering your postcode on the government site.

If you feel your council tax band is incorrect, you can use this service.

Scots residents will need to visit the Scottish Assessors website.

How does the cost-of-living crisis affect households?

Energy bills

The new price cap was announced by Ofgem, the energy regulator. bills will rise by 54% starting in April.

Capitulation has been raised to PS1,971, an increase of PS693.

The current price cap is PS1,277. This was increased by 12 percent from the previous price.

Consultancy Cornwall Insight stated that the cap could be as high as PS2,329 per user for October.

The combination of several factors caused an increase in energy prices throughout 2021. These problems are not limited to the UK.

First, last winter was especially cold in Europe, which drove up demand and used up gas reserves.

The demand for Russian pipeline gas was lower than expected, and it also rose in China.

The stress on companies led to collapse of 28 energy companies who together were responsible for more that two million homes.

The energy price cap has protected consumers against the rise in wholesale prices. However, this is about to change.
 

Food Prices

According to retailers, the cost of a weekly shop increased at the fastest rate in ten years last month. The retailer predicts that the cost of goods would continue to rise through 2022.

The annual inflation in shops increased to 1.5 percent in January, compared to 0.8 percent in December, according the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) data.

Kantar, a market research group, believes that consumers will pay PS180 more this year on average for groceries than they did last.

National Insurance

Despite Tory backbench MPs calling for the removal of its 1.25 percent increase in National Insurance Chancellor Rishi Sonak insists on moving ahead. This will happen at the same moment as the April rise in energy prices.

The average UK income of nearly PS26,000 means that those who earn more than PS50,000 have to pay PS130 in National Insurance.

Other factors

The average asking rents rose at the fastest recorded rate. Mortgages will be affected by the increase in interest rates.

Last year, the average household spent PS4,820 on transport costs. This was despite train prices rising by nearly 4 percent. The cost of travel will rise further due to rising gas prices.

Prices for broadband and mobile providers are also affected by the inflation rate plus an additional 4%.

All of this means that households could end up paying PS3,000 more per year for their daily necessities.

NEXT NEWS