Council Tax Reduction Disregards — Pension, Child Benefit, and Carer Income

Why Disregards Matter for Your Income Band

Salford's income-banded CTR scheme decides your award percentage based on net monthly income. But not all income counts equally. Certain payments are partially or fully disregarded — meaning the council strips them out before matching you against the income band thresholds.

Getting the disregards right can shift you into a higher award band. A household that looks like it earns too much for Band 1 on paper might actually land there once the correct disregards are applied.

The 45% Pension Disregard

This is the one most people miss. Salford's 2026/27 scheme disregards 45% of state and occupational pension income for working-age couples where one partner is of pension age.

It was introduced specifically to protect mixed-age couples — households where a working-age person cares for a pension-age partner. Without the disregard, the pension-age partner's pension income could push the household into a lower band, even though that income isn't flexible spending money.

How it works in practice: If a couple receives £400 per month in occupational pension income, 45% (£180) is disregarded. Only £220 counts towards the income band assessment. Combined with Carer's Allowance of £350 per month, the total assessed income is £570 — well inside the couple Band 1 threshold of £725.44, qualifying for the maximum 88% reduction.

This disregard was approved following Salford's public consultation, with 63.9% of respondents supporting it. It applies to both state pension and private/occupational pension payments.

Child Benefit — Fully Disregarded

Child Benefit is completely excluded from Salford's CTR income calculation. It doesn't matter how many children you're claiming for or whether you receive the higher rate for the eldest — none of it counts.

This applies regardless of whether you're on Universal Credit or legacy benefits. Child Benefit is left out of the CTR income calculation, so it does not push a household towards a lower income band.

Combined with the higher family income thresholds, this disregard gives households with children considerably more room before their CTR percentage drops.

Carer's Allowance — Counted, but with Context

Carer's Allowance is counted as unearned income in Salford's assessment. The amount shown on your award is converted to the monthly figure used in the income calculation.

However, the UC Carer Element is disregarded from the Universal Credit component of the calculation. So if you receive both Carer's Allowance and the UC carer element, only the Carer's Allowance itself counts — the UC top-up for caring responsibilities is stripped out before the assessment.

For carers also receiving the pension disregard (because their partner is pension-age), the combination of both disregards can keep the household in Band 1 even with a significant pension coming in.

Other Fully Disregarded Payments

Several other payments are completely excluded from the income calculation:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — all components
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) — all components
• Attendance Allowance
• War Pensions and War Disablement Allowances
• Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments
• Universal Credit Transitional Protection Payments (UCTPP) — newly disregarded from April 2026

The UCTPP disregard is particularly important for people who were moved from legacy Employment and Support Allowance with Severe Disability Premium onto Universal Credit. Their transitional protection payment — which tops up UC to prevent a cash loss from the migration — no longer counts as income when assessing CTR.

Checking Your Disregards Are Applied Correctly

If you're receiving any of these benefits and your CTR award seems lower than expected, it's worth checking that the disregards have been applied. The council relies on DWP data feeds, and occasionally elements are miscategorised or a new benefit award isn't reflected in the next assessment.

You can verify by comparing the net monthly income figure on your CTR decision letter against your own calculation. If the numbers don't match and a disregard appears to be missing, request a written explanation from the council or ask Citizens Advice Salford (0808 278 7802) to review the decision.

For a breakdown of every disregard and worked examples showing how they affect band placement, the Salford Council Tax Reduction guide includes calculation worksheets for each household type.

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