What happens if you don't pay council tax?

Council tax By Council Tax Helpline, 10 September 2026

In short

Miss a payment and your council sends a reminder. If you do not catch up, you can lose the right to pay monthly and owe the whole year at once.
Next comes a court summons, with costs added, and then a liability order from the magistrates' court.
A liability order lets the council send bailiffs, or take money from your wages or benefits.
Refusing to pay is not a crime, but in England, in rare cases, the court can send someone to prison.
You can agree an arrangement at any stage. The earlier you do, the less it costs.

Council tax is treated differently from almost every other bill. Your council does not have to take you to the county court or wait months to act. It can move from a missed payment to bailiffs in a matter of weeks.

Here is what happens in England and Wales. Scotland is different, and is covered at the end.

England

Applies until the reforms take effect in April 2027.

Day 1

You miss an instalment

Your council sends a reminder notice.
7 days

Pay within seven days of the reminder

Pay the missed amount and your instalments carry on as normal.
A further 7 days

The whole year’s bill falls due

If it is still unpaid, you lose the right to pay monthly and everything left for the year is due at once.
At least 7 days

Final notice

Your council states the amount it will ask the court for.
At least 14 days before the hearing

Court summons

The magistrates’ court sets a hearing date.

Costs added, commonly £80 to £130
At the hearing

Liability order

Your council can take money from your wages or benefits, or send enforcement agents.

Wales

Applies to instalments missed since 1 April 2026.

Day 1

You miss an instalment

Your council may send you a reminder, but does not have to.
Day 41 at the earliest

Final notice

Sent at least 41 days after the missed payment, and at least 14 days after any reminder.
21 days

Pay what is overdue

Pay within 21 days and your instalments carry on.
Day 63 at the earliest

The rest of the year’s bill falls due

Your council can now apply to the magistrates’ court.
At the hearing

Liability order

Enforcement powers begin. Nobody can be sent to prison for council tax in Wales.

Costs capped at £70

1. A reminder

If you miss an instalment, your council sends a reminder notice.

In England, you have 7 days to pay the missed amount. If you do, your instalments carry on as normal.
In Wales, the rules changed in April 2026. You get longer: a final notice at least 41 days after the missed payment, then 21 days to catch up.

2. The whole year’s bill becomes due

If you do not catch up, you lose the right to pay by instalments, and the rest of the year’s bill becomes due at once. This is the step that turns a missed payment of, say, £150 into a demand for over £1,000.

3. A court summons

Your council then applies to the magistrates’ court and sends you a summons, with a hearing date. Costs are added at this point, commonly £80 to £130 in England, and capped at £70 in Wales.

You can still stop things here: paying the full amount, including costs, before the hearing stops the case. See council tax court summons.

4. A liability order

At the hearing, the court almost always grants a liability order. It does not decide whether you can afford to pay, only whether the council tax is owed and was properly demanded. See liability orders.

5. What the council can do next

A liability order gives your council several ways to collect:

Bailiffs, officially enforcement agents, who add fees of £79, then £247, and more if they take goods. See bailiff advice
Taking money from your wages, through an attachment of earnings
Taking money from your benefits, such as Universal Credit
A charging order on your home, if you own it and owe £1,000 or more
Bankruptcy, if you owe £5,000 or more. This is rare
Committal to prison, in England only, as a last resort after bailiffs have failed. See can you go to prison for council tax

Is not paying council tax a crime?

No. Council tax arrears are a civil debt, not a criminal offence. But because a liability order gives the council such strong powers, council tax is treated as a priority debt: it should be paid, or an arrangement agreed, before credit cards, loans and other non-priority debts.

Can you refuse to pay?

You can dispute a bill you think is wrong, for example if you are not the liable person, the band is wrong, or you are entitled to an exemption. But you cannot simply refuse. Refusing leads to the steps above, with costs and fees added at each one.

If you think the bill is wrong, keep paying what you can while you challenge it, and ask the council to hold recovery while it looks into it.

If you can’t pay

If you cannot afford your council tax, do three things straight away:

Check you are getting all the help you are entitled to. Council Tax Reduction, the single person discount, and exemptions are often missed. See Council Tax Reduction and discounts and exemptions.
Ask to pay over 12 months instead of 10. It is your right, and lowers each payment.
Agree a special payment arrangement for any arrears, at an amount you can afford.

Does it affect your credit score?

Not directly. Councils do not report council tax to credit reference agencies, and a liability order is not a CCJ. See does council tax debt affect your credit score.

In Scotland

In Scotland there is no court hearing. If you do not pay after a reminder, the council applies for a summary warrant, which adds 10% to what you owe, and sheriff officers can then take money from your wages or bank account. See summary warrants.

Where are you with your council tax?

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