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The Government is to plough on with its plans to switch council tax billing from 10 to 12-month instalments.It comes despite warnings from the sector the move could leave local authorities with cash flow problems. In its response to a consultation on the plans, the Government acknowledged that ‘several councils' had raised concerns about the impact on their ability to pay precepting councils. Billing authorities have warned ministers this would force them to take out loans and incur interest fees to pay councils on time. But the Government has confirmed it will bring in the changes in April 2028 as part of a ‘targeted and proportionate approach' that reflects the concerns raised.It added that to ‘aid transition' new taxpayers will be placed on 12-monthly instalments from April 2027.Any households moving onto the default 12-monthly payment plans will still be able to request 10-monthly billing.Ministers added they will ‘support councils with clear and expansive communication campaigns ahead of the 2028 change'. The Government also announced that the timeframe before a person loses their right to pay in instalments has been extended to at least 63 days after the first missed payment, which means enforcement action will not begin until at least three payments have been missed. Debt charities welcomed the extension but remain concerned that non-payers in England can still face imprisonment, a sanction that has already been removed in Scotland and Wales.The Government confirmed that while nonpayers could still face imprisonment this power will only be used in cases of ‘wilful refusal to pay or culpable neglect'.Chief executive of debt charity StepChange, Vikki Brownridge, said the missed payment extension would give residents ‘more time to engage constructively with their local authority, seek debt advice and reach affordable arrangements' but added imprisonment for non-payment ‘simply does not belong in the 21st century'.Policy and campaigns manager at the charity Debt Justice, Toby Murray, said the continued threat of ‘bailiffs at the door' and imprisonment was ‘persecution of people who are already struggling'.

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POLICY AND POLITICS

Government ploughs on with council tax billing switch

By Joe Lepper | 15 April 2026

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