Council tax reduction in Scotland: October to December 2019

Council Tax Reduction in Scotland, October to December 2019

This quarterly publication provides statistics on the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, which reduces the Council Tax (CT) liability of lower income households in Scotland. A CTR 'recipient' can be a single person or a couple, with or without children, since CT is charged on a per-dwelling basis, rather than to individuals.

The statistics are based on data extracts from local authorities, and cover the time period October to December 2019.

• There were 468,150 CTR recipients in Scotland in December 2019, a marginal decrease of 0.5 per cent over this quarter.
• The total weekly income forgone by local authorities on CTR in December 2019 was £6.503 million.
• The total number of CTR recipients in Scotland has gradually decreased by 15.2 per cent (84,230 recipients) between the beginning of the scheme in April 2013, and December 2019. However CT and CTR reforms alongside annual increases in CT since April 2017 have resulted in increases in the total weekly CTR awarded (as shown in Chart 1 below).

Chart 1: CTR Recipients and Weekly Income Forgone in Scotland, April 2013 to December 2019