Migrants don’t pay council tax from their benefits.
Migrants are not automatically exempt from paying council tax but asylum seekers being housed by the government do not have to pay council tax. Some migrants receiving benefits may be eligible for a Council Tax Reduction, but this would be on the same basis as non-migrants.
A Facebook post appears to suggest migrants receiving benefits don’t have to pay council tax.
It says: “If migrants don't pay Council Tax from their benefit, why should we if pension is a benefit?”
It’s not clear what the post means by “migrants”, which has no set legal definition. It could be used to refer to those who are foreign-born, foreign nationals or people who have moved to the UK, among other possibilities.
Regardless, these groups of people are not automatically exempt from paying council tax due to their immigration status or history.
It’s possible the post is referring to asylum seekers receiving asylum support, who are not liable to pay council tax if they live in government-provided accommodation.
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A full council tax bill is based on at least two liable adults living in a home. Some groups of people are ‘disregarded’—meaning they’re not included in the count of who lives in a property—including prisoners, full-time students, some carers and severely mentally impaired people.
According to the House of Commons Library the council tax system “classes refugees and foreign nationals as liable for council tax: they do not receive any automatic exemptions”.
However, it’s worth noting that Ukrainian refugees housed through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme are currently disregarded under council tax regulations set out in 2022. This is to avoid those hosting a refugee losing a discount or exemption they would have otherwise received, for example the 25% single person discount for those who live by themselves or in a household where everyone else is disregarded.
The spouses, civil partners and dependents of students are also disregarded if they are granted leave to remain in the UK for a limited time period and their visas mean they are not able to work or claim public funds, such as some benefits.
While migrants are not automatically exempt, some may be disregarded for the same reasons that apply to non-migrants—for example, if they are on certain apprenticeships or are a full-time student. We’ve not found any specific data on how many are disregarded from paying council tax for these types of reasons.
Studying was one of the most common reasons for “long-term international migration”—which the ONS defines as someone who has changed their country of usual residence for a period of at least a year—from non-EU countries between June 2019 and June 2024. These migrants would not be liable to pay council tax while studying here full time.
The post refers to migrants paying “from their benefit”. It’s not clear entirely what this refers to, but it’s worth noting that not all migrants can claim all benefits.
Many migrants, including those in the UK without the right to be here, are not allowed to claim public funds which include several benefits. Migrants who do have the right to be in the UK may be able to claim benefits on the same basis as UK nationals, but this will depend on their specific immigration status.
Some migrants may be eligible for Council Tax Reduction if they’re on a low income or claiming certain benefits. This reduction can be up to 100%, and depends on factors including the applicant’s household income and whether there are children in the household. But again, this eligibility would be determined on the same basis as that of non-migrants.
The post may intend to refer to asylum seekers, rather than migrants more broadly. Asylum seekers can’t claim mainstream benefits, but may be entitled to some financial assistance from the government if they are homeless or don’t have money to buy food. Some failed asylum seekers are also eligible for this support.
Asylum seekers account for only a small proportion of the UK’s population who were born abroad. At the end of December 2024, there were 90,686 asylum applications awaiting an initial decision, relating to 124,802 people. Data from the 2021/22 Census shows 16% of people in the UK (about 10.7 million) were born abroad.
We’ve written many times before about what support asylum seekers can receive while awaiting a decision on their applications.
The post is correct to suggest that receiving a pension does not automatically exempt someone from paying council tax. However, some pensioners may be eligible for the exemptions and reductions listed above, including Council Tax Reduction.
Each council operates their own Council Tax Reduction scheme, which means the support may vary across the country, and is based on factors including a person’s age, income, savings, who they live with, and how much council tax they pay. According to Age UK, those who receive the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit may get their council tax paid in full.
You can find more of our work relating to claims on immigration on our website, including our explainer on how many migrants come to the UK. Misleading posts can spread quickly online and may cause people to have beliefs about immigration based on inaccurate information.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the post implies the false claim that migrants are exempt from paying council tax.
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