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Hundreds of thousands of homes across England and Scotland are thought to be in the wrong council tax band, meaning hard-up Britons could be overpaying while battling the cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n
Some are paying five times as much council tax relative to their salary compared to residents in other local authorities, the TaxPayers\u2019 Alliance (TPA) has revealed.<\/p>\n
Locals in West Devon, the area with the highest burden, pay 10.85 per cent of their median gross pay in council tax.<\/p>\n
This is compared to just 2.16 percent in Wandsworth, south London, where the strain is lowest.<\/p>\n
Up to 400,000 homes are in the wrong council tax band according to Money Saving Expert.<\/p>\n
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On the website explained that “100,000s are in the wrong ban” due to “poor valuations in England and Scotland”.<\/p>\n
There are two important steps to take\u00a0when a person wants to challenge their council tax band.<\/p>\n
It should be noted that if challenging a council tax band, the review could lead to a property being put in a higher band.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many homes are in the wrong council tax bands, and have been since 1991<\/p>\n
People in England and Scotland could get a rebate as far back as when the council tax band system was set up, in 1993.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> 1 People should first check with their neighbours to know if they are in higher or lower band than them.<\/p>\n This only works if their properties are similar. For example<\/p>\n 2 Next people need to estimate what their home was worth in 1991, as that’s when and how the council tax bands were defined.<\/p>\n Britons can use its price and date of sale to do this.<\/p>\n Once they have that information, they can use it to estimate what their property would’ve been worth back in 1991, and what band it’s in.<\/p>\n People can compare the sale prices to the prices the properties are valued at for council tax.<\/p>\n This list is available on the Government website.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n However, there are factors that can reduce one\u2019s council tax band.\u00a0<\/p>\n The gov.uk website gives the following examples:<\/p>\n
DWP urges Britons to check if they can claim benefit worth up to \u00a33,500 a year[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
SNP tax rises to hit Scotland\u2019s \u2018most vulnerable\u2019 families as 80,000 to pay more[ANALYSIS] <\/strong>
Councils ‘running out of money’ as \u00a35 billion black hole threatens basic service[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/23\/590x\/secondary\/council-tax-4953588.jpg?r=1694430847079\")
<\/p>\nChallenging your council tax band<\/h3>\n
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