We spend around £1.8 billion a year providing a wide range of services for the approximately 600,000 citizens of Sheffield.
A detailed breakdown of how your Council Tax is spent is available for you to look at.
What happens if you don’t pay your Council Tax
If you don't pay your Council Tax bill, a recovery process will start before we take serious action:
- if you miss a payment, you will receive a reminder that it's due
- if you still don't bring your payments up to date, or make a repayment arrangement, you may receive a final reminder
- if you don't respond to the reminder or final reminder, you'll receive a summons to attend a hearing where we'll ask for a Liability Order to be granted – at this stage, costs will be added to the amount you owe
Liability Order
If you receive a summons, you will have lost the automatic right to pay by instalments. You will then have to pay the amount of Council Tax you owe in full.
If the court then grants a Liability Order, we will be able to take further recovery action, which includes:
- 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
- committal to prison
We strongly advise you to get in touch with us as soon as you receive a summons to discuss your arrears. If you're 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. This is so we can still take further recovery action in case the repayment arrangement is not maintained.)
Don't wait to get help
If you're struggling to pay your Council Tax, please get in touch with us without delay so we can try and help you avoid incurring additional recovery costs.
If you need any independent help or advice, contact one of the city’s advice agencies, such as Citizens Advice Sheffield.