Recovering Council Tax
Instalments and arrears
Council tax is a yearly charge normally paid in ten monthly instalments, starting in April. You can request to pay the charge over 12 instalments but you must contact us to request this. Your bill must be paid by the first of each month unless you choose to pay by direct debit. Your bill shows your payment dates and amounts. If you have previous years' arrears on your account it is particularly important that you pay the exact amount of the instalment otherwise the payment will be allocated to your arrears. It is important that payments are not late.
We also collect council tax on behalf of Staffordshire County Council, Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and must make monthly payments to these authorities from the council tax payments we receive.
Council tax must be paid monthly to avoid receiving a reminder or a summons. Block payments can be made, but must be paid in advance.