Council Tax spending

We spend around £1.7 billion a year providing a wide range of services for approximately 600,000 citizens of Sheffield.

Download our leaflet to see how this is spent.

What happens if you don’t pay your bill

The recovery process is:

• if you miss a payment you will receive a reminder that payment is due
• if you still do not bring your payments up to date or make a repayment arrangement, you may receive a final reminder
• if you do not respond to the reminder or final reminder you will receive a summons to attend a hearing where we will ask for a Liability Order to be granted - at this stage, costs will be added to the amount you owe
• if you receive a summons you will have lost the automatic right to pay by instalments and you will have to pay the full amount of Council Tax.*
• if the Court grants a Liability Order the Council will be able to take further recovery action including: 
• deducting money from your benefits
• deducting money from your earnings
• instructing an enforcement and collection agency (previously bailiff) to collect your debt
• placing a Charging Order on your property
• issuing bankruptcy proceedings, and;
• committal to prison

Some of these actions can add significant costs to how much someone has to pay.

If you are struggling to pay your Council Tax please contact us without delay, so we can try and help you avoid incurring additional recovery costs.

If you need any independent help or advice please contact one of the City’s advice agencies.

We would strongly advise you to contact us as soon as you receive a summons to discuss your arrears. At this point if you are unable to pay the amount in full we will try and work with you to agree a repayment plan. If a repayment plan is agreed we will still request a Liability Order as this will allow us to take further recovery action if the repayment arrangement is not maintained.

If you do not think you are liable to pay Council Tax, you can attend court and put your case before the Magistrate. However, if you accept you are liable for the Council Tax that is owed, and you make a repayment arrangement prior to the court date, you do not need to attend court. If you have claimed a Council Tax discount, relief or exemption or Council Tax Support you will already have accepted liability for Council Tax.