Widows face council tax rise five times higher than last year if single-person discount is scrapped
Widows face a council tax rise five times higher than they endured last year if the single-person discount is scrapped.
For the average person in England, council tax jumped by £106 last year, but for single people it could go up by £549 next, according to analysis.
This is because those living alone could lose the 25 per cent discount, which is currently deducted from their bills – a move that has been labelled the “widows’ tax”.
The discount reflects the fact that single-occupier houses use fewer council services than families and couples.
The Government has repeatedly refused to rule out an end to the single-person’s discount – even though the scrapping of other perks, such as free bus passes for the elderly, have been ruled out.
The move would be controversial because it would affect three million pensioners and would cost them more than losing the winter fuel allowance, another unpopular measure announced by the Chancellor.
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer denied that any such tax increases on pensioners would be a “punishment beating” for Brexit.
The analysis, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), found that scrapping the discount would raise £5.4 billion in the UK, £1.9 billion of which will be taken from single pensioners.
This is much higher than the £1.5 billion that the winter fuel allowance cut is expected to raise.
It also shows that tens of thousands of pensioners face a “widow’s tax” of more than £600 a year.
This is because they live in areas with the highest rates of council tax in the country.
Top of the list was Rutland, where council tax rates for band D are £2,543 – meaning the value of the discount is £636.
In all, there are 20 English councils where the bills for single people would soar by more than £600. Rutland is followed by Nottingham (£632), and Dorset and Lewes, which are both on £626.
In Birmingham, England’s largest local authority, more than 174,000 would be affected, while in Leeds there would be 137,000.
The analysis shows that in England there are just over three million pensioners who live alone and therefore benefit from the single-person’s discount.
There are just over four million single occupants of other ages who qualify for the discount.
In addition, there are 1.6 million single parents with dependent children, who also qualify for relief. Scrapping the discount on this group would raise £983 million.
A spokesman for the TPA said: “The Prime Minister has refused to rule out removing the single-person council tax discount, though other cuts were ruled out.
“While such a change would constitute a simplification of the tax system, it would further increase the tax burden, which is already set to reach an 80-year high by 2028-29.”
Sir Keir was asked on the trip to the US last week whether the single-person discount plan was a “punishment beating” for pensioners considering the fact that many of them voted Brexit and few vote Labour.
He replied: “No, absolutely not.”
The Prime Minister went on to talk about Budget plans but did not rule out removing the single-person’s discount.
“Let’s just try to quash this now,” he said. “The Budget is on Oct 30.
“I’m not going to say before the Budget what we’re going to do.
“That does not mean that I’m ruling in anything that you might be putting to me, it simply means, like every Prime Minister, we’re not going to reveal what’s in the Budget before we get to it.”
Sir Keir was then confronted over why he had ruled out other potential Budget measures, such as taking free bus passes from the elderly.
Asked why he would not rule out single-person’s discount, he said: “We’ve got to look at everything in the round.”