Self-employed applicants
Self-employed people are those workers who are not employed under a contract. Typically, they can include trades such as window cleaners, certain taxi drivers, painters and decorators.
A person can be self-employed as a sole trader or as part of a business partnership.
Please note that directors of limited companies are not treated as being self-employed.
If you are self-employed and you would like to apply for Council Tax Support you will need to complete an application form and provide details of your business income and outgoings.
What you need to provide
You need to provide details of all the income of the business as well as any other money coming into your household. This includes interest from business bank accounts, tips and royalties. Please note we do not need to see individual receipts; if we need further information about any of your business accounts we will contact you.
You also need to provide proof of any contributions you may make into a personal or private pension.
If you’ve been trading for less than one year
If you have recently started trading on a self-employed basis, you will need to complete a self-employed income form to provide an estimate of the likely income and expenses for the business over the first few months trading.
This will help us to pay your Council Tax Support sooner rather than having to wait until you have been trading for a few months.
If you’ve been trading for more than one year
If you have been trading for over 12 months, we will ask for a full year's trading figures, normally in the way of a profit and loss account. If you can’t provide business accounts, please complete a self-employed income form
We may also ask for the most recent tax assessment form received from HM Revenues and Customs.
How we work out how much you can get
To work out your income for Council Tax Support purposes, we look at all the income and expenses of the business as well as any other money coming into your household. If you have been trading for less than one year, we will use this income to work out how much help you can get.
After you have been trading for one year, we use a minimum set income of 35 hours per week at National Living Wage (35 x £8.72) to work out your Council Tax Support, even if you earn less than this amount. If you earn more than this minimum income, we will use your actual earnings.
The calculation will not apply for the first year from the start of the business. It will apply once you have been trading as self-employed for 12 months. However, if you have been self-employed for a year at any point in the last five years and you start a new business again, we will treat you as already being self-employed for 12 months.