Setting and calculating Council Tax

Council tax levels are set in February each year by full council. Following budget setting, the council is required to publish certain information about council tax when it issues your bill.

For further information on:

• who has to pay council tax
• how your council tax is calculated
• discounts
• local council tax support

Please visit Council Tax explained.

The presentation on council tax bills, including how the percentage increases are shown, is required by Government legislation and the total amount will include precepts from four organisations:

• The Isle of Wight Council.
• The Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire.
• The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.
• The Town, Parish or Community council relevant to your area.

The council tax increase for the Isle of Wight Council is calculated using our total amount of council tax. For example: the main ‘Isle of Wight Council’ line plus the ‘Adult social care precept’ line.

The worked example below sets out the calculations. The amounts used in the example below are for a Band D property. The calculations for other bands can be found in the 'calculation of precept increases' document below.

Isle of Wight Council’s total 2023/24 council tax = £1817.61

£1817.61 is the sum of the is the sum of the main council line (£1573.56) plus the adult social care precept line (£244.05)

Plus: Increase for all council services 2024/25 = £54.43 (2.99%)

Plus: Increase specifically for adult social care 2024/25 = £36.35 (2.00%)

Equals: Isle of Wight Council’s total 2024/25 council tax = £1908.39

This is broken into five lines on bills. £280.40 is shown on the adult social care precept line (£244.05 plus £36.35), with the remainder (£1627.99) split between the main council line and the other precept lines.

We are also required to publish the following notices which provide further information about your council tax bill:

• Council tax banding notice (Excel, 14KB)
• Council tax calculation (PDF, 333KB)
• Council tax valuation bandings (Excel, 26KB)
• Council tax town, parish and community council precepts (Excel, 15KB)
• Calculation of precept increases (Excel, 12KB)

If you know someone who is fraudulently claiming Housing Benefit please call the Department of Works and Pensions hotline 0800 854440. Your call will be dealt with confidentially. 

Or you can report in writing by post to: NBFH, PO Box 224, PR1 1GP.