Your Council Tax bill

Video guide: Explaining your council tax bill

You can go to the YouTube site to access the "Explaining your council tax bill" video with an interactive transcript  - select the 3 horizontal dots icon and choose "Open transcript". Please note the video may autoplay.

Transcript

Explaining your council tax bill

Council tax is a bill issued once a year that helps to fund the services we all rely on every day. Let's have a look at your council tax bill together so you understand it better. 

  1. At the top you’ll find your name and contact address. If this is not the same as the address you are paying council tax for, you’ll find that address on the right. If it’s the same, it will be blank. 
  2. Here on the right is your council tax account number. Keep this number handy you will need it if you contact us about your council tax or are making a payment.
  3. This next section tells you, your properties valuation band. It's a key part of how much council tax you pay.
  4. Here are the elements that make up your total charge and you will find them listed separately on your bill:
    • The “Slough Borough Council” charge covers vital services for residents like housing, parks, libraries, support for children, adult social care and more.
    • The next two charges are what pays for
      • police across the Thames Valley
      • the fire brigade across Berkshire.
    • The following item you only pay if you are a resident in one of our parishes – Britwell, Colnbrook or Wexham.
  5. The next line shows the total of those different payments. To understand more about how your charge is calculated visit our website slough.gov.uk/council-tax for details.  [the web address for the Council tax webpage is read out].
  6. The next part, in the middle, shows if you've got any discounts, exemptions or premiums.
  7. The Balance Due is what you need to pay for the year, after we've added any discounts, exemptions or premiums.
  8. At the bottom, your payment schedule lists your instalments and their due dates. Your payment instalments on your new bill do not include any outstanding balances from previous years.
  9. If you had any outstanding balances on the date shown, they will be listed below your instalments. This must be paid separately. You can check your outstanding balance online on your self service account. To check or set up your self service account, go to www.slough.gov.uk/council-tax and select “Sign in/register to access your account” [the web address for the Council tax webpage is read out].
    If you pay by direct debit your payments are sorted out for you. No extra work necessary. Direct debit makes life easy. You can set it up on our website. Visit slough.gov.uk/dd It's quick and simple.  [the web address for the Pay council tax - direct debit webpage is read out]. There are other ways to pay too. Check our website to find what works for you slough.gov.uk/council-tax [the web address for the Council tax webpage is read out].
  10. At the bottom of the bill you will find a reminder to find out more about unclaimed benefits and reductions. Turn over to the back of your bill to scan the QR code for help and advice on this and much more. You can also find information on all the different ways you can pay. If you want to pay in cash at a Payzone or post office, you will need the barcode that is on the front of the bill at the very top.

That's your council tax bill explained. If you've got questions or need more info visit our website slough.gov.uk/council-tax [the web address for the Council tax webpage is read out]. Thanks for watching.