Council tax is a tax collected by your local council. It is used to pay for local services such as schools, rubbish collection, roads and street lighting. The amount charged depends on who lives in the property and its value and location. People living in privately rented accommodation or who own their home are normally liable to pay council Tax although special exemption rules apply to full-time students.
To be exempt from paying council tax, you must be attending a full-time course that lasts at least one academic year , requires at least 24 weeks' attendance each year, and involves a minimum of 21 hours' study per week. Council tax exemption applies from the course start date until the course end date or the date a person withdraws from their course. If you move into a property before the start of your course, you could be liable to pay council tax in the period leading up to the start of your course.
Please bear this in mind when deciding on a date to move in. Full-time students must obtain a Council Tax Exemption Certificate once they are fully enrolled and submit this to the Council Tax Office in borough where they live. You may be in the UK on a Student visa or other type of visa. Being in the UK on a visa does not exempt you from paying council tax. If you rent private accommodation, you are liable to pay the council tax in the period leading up to the start of your course and once you complete your course even if your visa ends after this.
It is the course start and completion dates that matter, not the start and end date of your visa. If you rent privately and have returned to the UK on a Visitor visa to complete your full-time degree level course, you will become liable to pay the council tax once you complete your course. Once again it is the course completion date that matters, not the end date of your visa. Please also note that you are liable to pay the council tax while attending a pre-sessional course or a full-time course that lasts less than one academic year.
If you live in privately rented accommodation either by yourself or in a house where everyone is a full-time student, you will not have to pay council tax, but you must all provide evidence of your full-time student status to the local Council Tax Office. If you are a full-time student sharing with two or more people who are not full-time students, a full bill will be generated. As a full-time student you are not liable to pay any of this bill but the non-students in the house will be expected to pay.
