Council Tax Support

This section explains how we calculate your income if:

• you’re self-employed
• you’ve been trading for more than 12 months

We use this when:

• you’re making a new claim for Council Tax Support
• we carry our annual reviews of your self-employed earnings

How we calculate your income

We assume that your total income is the same as the National Minimum Wage. We will multiply this hourly rate by 36, to get the weekly rate.

We will work out how much income tax and National Insurance would be deducted from these earnings, and then we use this ‘net amount’ to calculate your income for Council Tax Support.

This change does not affect self employed pensioners or how your Housing Benefit is worked out.

For more information please see page 44 of Draft provisions for working age people (PDF)

Current national minimum wage rates from 1 April 2024

Exemptions

We won’t assume that you earn the National Minimum wage if any of the following apply.

If you get any of these benefits:

• middle or higher rate of either component of Disability Living Allowance
• the daily living component, or the enhanced rate of the mobility component, of a Personal Independence Payment
• Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment for a child who is a member of your household
• Carers’ Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

If you have an illness or incapacity that means any of the following apply:

• You, or a member of your household, have cancer or a similar condition
• your doctor has certified that you are incapacitated and can’t work for up to six months

If you’re being rehoused:

• if you’ve been rehoused in temporary accommodation by a Housing Authority, we won’t assume the National Minimum Wage for 12 months
• if you’ve moved, been rehoused, or are occupying two homes because of domestic violence, we won’t assume the National Minimum Wage for up to 12 months

If you’ve had a temporary reduction in income:

• if you’ve been self-employed for two years and your income has significantly reduced because of circumstances beyond your control, then we’ll consider not assuming the National Minimum wage for you, for up to 12 months. To do this, we must be sure this reduction is temporary and you’re taking steps to increase your earnings