HMRC and Council Tax Amex workarounds?

[BarclayHouseLondon]

Update re PayPoint vs PayZone, coop, postoffice etc. How to use AmEx to pay ‘big’ chunk bills/invoices?

[BBbetter]

Many councils accept PayPal.

[drdan]

Also, pay point at co-ops with the physical paper bill.

[Rui N.]

Move to Brighton and they accept Amex to pay council tax

[davefl]

Move to where I live and my local petrol station takes paypoint with Amex.

[Rui N.]

Ugh, petrol station.

[davefl]

Ok, general store, car wash, calor gas retailer, ATM location and they also sell Petrol and Diesel, and they have a paypoint 🙂

[Rui N.]

Brighton still sounds nicer.

[Aston100]

Move to London where the locals will take your Amex (and your wallet too).

[Colin MacKinnon]

Rui N. wrote:

Brighton still sounds nicer.

Do Amex do tours?

🙂

[Hbommie]

Colin MacKinnon wrote:

Rui N. wrote:

Brighton still sounds nicer.

Do Amex do tours?

🙂

Yes they do https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/club/stadiums/the-amex-stadium/stadium-tours

[Reney]

My local coop can only accept <£100 per time, so need to make 2 trips per month. But the shop is near the bus stop so easy detour.

[Alex]

drdan wrote:

Also, pay point at co-ops with the physical paper bill.

Reney wrote:

My local coop can only accept <£100 per time, so need to make 2 trips per month. But the shop is near the bus stop so easy detour.

Are there any that accept £2000+/year bill in one go?

[MF176]

My council takes PayPal, easy points 😀

[NorthernLass]

Same here, in fact I’ve just been wondering when the bill is going to land!

[Froggee]

NorthernLass wrote:

Same here, in fact I’ve just been wondering when the bill is going to land!

Beat this:

Council tax: £3,546.84
Water: £505.80
Sewerage : £586.98
Total: £4,639.62

Edinburgh council don’t (easily) take Amex but it gets me a good chunk of my required spending for the Virgin Atlantic card.

[NorthernLass]

Crikey, I’m hoping mine is £2k max, though our water/sewerage won’t be included in that. My mum (who has a second home, in Wales!) pays all her the council tax (and other bills) by DD. Sad face, @Froggee, sad face.

[Chris8]

Our local council (Elmbridge) doesn’t even allow you to pay by credit card (!) they only accept debit cards or direct debit, both of which don’t gain any rewards, or require faff to get specific bank accounts.

They claim this:

A note on credit card payments

In 2018 new rules came into effect banning companies from charging any fees on card payments. This applies to local authorities and other government agencies such as HMRC. As we have to pay for the cost of credit cards, we will not accept credit cards for the payment of Council Tax and business rates.

A cursory look online seems to indicate most accept credit cards (V/MC) or some sort of alternative method such as Paypoint or Allpay. I wonder if this a standard practice?

[NorthernLass]

Have you tried PayPal? Or Curve?

[JDB]

@Froggee – your council tax is quite modest, probably partly because you live in a city but maybe it’s lower in Scotland. Rural council tax charges in England are generally quite a bit higher. I haven’t seen this year’s bill yet, but 2023/24 was £4,361.84 which doesn’t include mains sewerage or water.

[Chris8]

NorthernLass wrote:

Have you tried PayPal? Or Curve?

At the risk of sounding rather green, how so do you mean?

The council does not accept paypal and Curve that’s a name I’ve not heard for years – I do remember it coming out but didn’t credit card companies start getting wise to it and started charging for Curve transactions as cash-like transactions?

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

£ 3,546 is for a Band H property for 23/24

Band H here in Amex sur Mere is £ 4,455 for 23/24

In neither places are many people paying that much which is a reflection not only of property value but also the multiplier applied from Band D which is used for the base calculation (band H is double D in England)

But a comparison between English and Scottish council tax rates isn’t a good idea because of the different legislative and financing arrangements for local government in the two countries.

[BBbetter]

Froggee wrote:

Water: £505.80
Sewerage : £586.98

Is it just me who thinks that too high? Granted ours is a small family but we pay £350 a year combined. Or is it just another way SNP subsidise the less well off?

[freckles]

BBbetter wrote:

Froggee wrote:

Water: £505.80
Sewerage : £586.98

Is it just me who thinks that too high? Granted ours is a small family but we pay £350 a year combined. Or is it just another way SNP subsidise the less well off?

There’s no metering in Scotland for housed (or if you insist there’s a big fee last time I looked into it). Our water/sewerage is based on our council tax banding. Scotland has lots of water……at a price

[Froggee]

How dare you @BBbetter! It is a veritable bargain for as much of the cleanest water as I could possibly desire provided by Scottish Water which is owned by the Socialist People’s Government of the Republic of Jockland.

But yes, in Scotland water is normally collected through council tax which means that the e.g. 1.7% of people who live in Edinburgh in band H properties have the privilege of paying twice as much as those who live in band D properties who in turn pay 50% more than those in band A. So the range is from £364.26 to £1,092.78 for water + sewerage depending on your house.

It is possible to get a water meter installed but there is, of course, a charge for this. I mean the meter is provided for free, you only have to pay for a survey, installation and ongoing replacement if it is damaged. And the rate they charge per cubic meter seems a bit on the high side to me so I have concluded that it all seems a bit too much of a hassle.

By contrast band H council tax is 245% of band D here. As always, I am delighted to help in this regard.

Anyway, it’s just a rounding error compared to the joyous personal tax rates we have. There is now a special “advanced” band of 45% which kicks in at £75k because people that earn money in Scotland should be punished. Then there is the highly prestigious “top rate” which kicks in at £125k-ish of 48%. Add on national insurance and you get to 50%.

Given that the government believes that they are getting a rubbish deal allowing rich people to keep 50% of their earned income, I can only see this going up. Why – the last number I saw the public sector constituted 56% of Scotland’s economy. I guess that is why we have council tax premiums etc and private schools already pay business rates up here.

Anyway, courtesy of my vaguely recent retirementunemployment next year will be my final year as a “top rate” tax payer.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m all in favour of high taxes and particularly property taxes but I don’t like the mantra in this country that rich people are evil and deserve to be rinsed combined with the ongoing decline of what used to be a moderately successful country. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s home, the boys are settled and my mum is old I would be very tempted to up sticks. As it is, I am probably stuck here for the next decade.

Thanks for triggering me! Why don’t you point out that Italy beat Scotland while we’re at it?