Council Tax frequently asked questions

Council Tax is charged on domestic properties. The amount you have to pay will depend on the valuation band in which your property falls.

An independent assessor determines which of eight valuation bands applies to each home in East Ayrshire. Council Tax is then charged based on which band your property falls into.

The Council Tax year starts on 1 April each year and bills are issued to every household during March. Payments are due on the 1st of each month and collected over 10 months from April to January.

There are a range of payment options available for Council Tax but the quickest and easiest way to pay is by Direct Debit. Find out more on our Ways To Pay page.

The person responsible for paying the Council Tax in a property is usually the resident of the property. Residents are normally those who are solely or mainly resident in the property and are aged 18 years old or over. If no-one is resident then the non-resident owner is liable.

Married couples, people living together as man and wife or those in a civil partnership who reside together in a property are jointly liable for Council Tax.

In certain circumstances, the liability to pay Council Tax will lie with the owner of the property and not any residents or tenants. This would apply to care homes, hostels and houses in multiple occupation.

If you think you should not be liable for Council Tax where you reside, you should contact us to discuss your circumstances.

You can use our online form to make an application for a Council Tax discount or exemption.

Please ensure you read the eligibility criteria before applying.

Council Tax notices are issued annually, normally mid-March.

The level of Council Tax payable depends on the valuation of your home. An independent assessor determines which of eight valuation bands applies to each home in East Ayrshire. Council Tax is then charged based on which band your property falls into.

Find out more about bands and charges. 

View information about historical Council Tax bands and charges.

Find out more about Council Tax expenditure.

Find out about how Council Tax is calculated.

Council Tax bills include charges made by Scottish Water for water and waste water services. We are legally required to include these charges on the Council Tax bill bills but we are not responsible for setting them.

The level of the charges is set by Scottish Water and is subject to scrutiny by the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Further information on the Council Tax increases by the Scottish Government can be found at Scottish Government: Council Tax.

If you disagree with the way your Council Tax has been calculated or collected you may appeal.

In the first instance you must contact us by email at council.tax@east-ayrshire.gov.uk and provide full details of your enquiry or you should call our Revenues and Benefits team (see contact information at the bottom of the page) to discuss this further.

You may have a legal right to appeal if you disagree with your valuation band. You should contact the Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board to discuss this.

Payments must not be delayed whilst waiting for the outcome of any enquiry or appeal.

We administer Council Tax Reduction on behalf of the Scottish Government. It is governed by laws and regulations laid down by the government and is funded by the Scottish Government.

If you are liable to pay Council Tax and your income and savings are below a certain level you may be entitled to Council Tax Reduction. Up to 100% reduction of the Council Tax charge may be available. There is, however, no reduction for the water and sewerage charges, which are included in your Council Tax bill.

Find out more about Council Tax Reduction and how to apply.

It is vitally important that you keep your payments up-to-date. Please do not ignore any letters we send you about your Council Tax.

If you are falling behind with payments and worried about arrears we would encourage you to contact our Revenues and Benefits team by phone (see contact information at the bottom of the page) or by email at collections@east-ayrshire.gov.uk as soon as possible. We can discuss a repayment arrangement to suit your circumstances, helping you to keep current payments up-to-date and clearing any previous year's debts.

Alternatively you can propose a repayment plan by simply completing our Council Tax Payment Proposal form with your repayment proposal and we will contact you to confirm or discuss your offer within 14 days.

If you fall behind with your Council Tax payments, we will send you a Reminder Notice that will give you seven days to bring your payments up-to-date. If you do not do this, you will lose the right to continue paying by instalments and the full amount outstanding for the remainder of the year will become payable. 

After this we will not issue any more reminders - we will make application to the Sheriff for a Summary Warrant and this will add a Statutory Penalty of 10% of the outstanding amount onto your bill. If your arrears remain unpaid, we may pass the debt to our Sheriff Officer for collection and the Summary Warrant empowers them to collect the amount in different ways such as by arresting your wages or your bank account.

If you have moved house please let us know as soon as possible by emailing council.tax@east-ayrshire.gov.uk.

By law, a landlord/owner has a duty to provide us with tenancy details as soon as a property is empty or a new tenancy is established. Failure to provide this information will result in a Civil Penalty being raised and billed in your name.

Please inform the Council Tax Section of any tenancy changes as soon as possible by emailing council.tax@east-ayrshire.gov.uk.