Tell the council that sends your bill#
There is no national change of name form for council tax. Your local council charges and collects it, keeps the account for your home and sets its own process for updating it, so the route depends on where you live. GOV.UK's find your local council service takes a postcode and gives you the council's website.
Most councils take a change of name online, and each wants the account or reference number printed on your bill: Cardiff's is eight digits, Birmingham's is ten digits beginning 50, and South Cambridgeshire's begins 1010. They want to hear promptly. Birmingham and South Cambridgeshire both say that if you have recently changed your name "you must tell us immediately", so that it "does not cause issues with your bill", and Swansea asks for any change of circumstances, a change of name among them, "straight away".
What councils ask for#
Councils publish very different amounts of detail. These are the pages of eight councils of different sizes in England, Wales and Scotland, read on 29 September 2026.
| Council | How to tell it | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham City Council, England | Your BRUM account: Council Tax Online, then My account details | The billing reference; no document is mentioned |
| Leeds City Council, England | For a deed poll, by post or at a One Stop Centre | Account number, the name now on the bill, the new name, your address and a copy of the deed poll |
| Cornwall Council, England | Its council tax contact form | Nothing specific published |
| South Cambridgeshire District Council, England | Online "Report a name change" form | The account reference; a Letter of Authority if your name is not on the account |
| Cardiff Council, Wales | Online change of name form | The account number; any document attached as a photo or screenshot (jpeg, jpg or png) |
| Newport City Council, Wales | Online change of address or name form | Nothing specific published |
| Fife Council, Scotland | Online "Report a change"; its list includes "you've changed your name" | Nothing specific published |
| West Lothian Council, Scotland | Online change of name form | It starts with your previous name as it appears on the bill, your address, and the account number if known |
Aberdeen City Council and Swansea Council also list a change of name among the changes to report through their council tax pages.
What to send#
Have ready your account number, your name exactly as the bill shows it now, your new name and the address. Leeds asks for exactly those after a marriage or a divorce and lists no document; for a deed poll it adds a copy of the deed. If your council asks for evidence, send a copy, scan or photo and keep the original at home. None of the councils we checked asks for the original or for a certified copy, and Leeds says "Please do not send original documents by post." Whether an organisation takes a photocopy or a scan varies elsewhere, but the councils that ask for evidence describe a copy or a photo.
What happens next#
Birmingham says it updates its records and "the next documentation you receive from us will show your new name on it". Keep that bill or letter. GOV.UK's passport guidance gives a letter from your local council as an example of evidence that you are using a new name, and HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff accepts a letter from a local government department issued within the last 12 months. That is why who to tell, and in what order puts your council near the start, before the passport.
If you get help with the bill, the benefits side may need telling too: Leeds asks anyone claiming Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support or free school meals to report a change of name on its change in circumstances form.
The electoral register is a separate record again. GOV.UK says you need to register to vote again if you have changed your name, which usually takes about five minutes online, and Aberdeen City Council notes that telling it you have moved house does not automatically change your electoral register entry either. Changing your name on the electoral register has the steps.
Joint bills and discounts follow the household#
GOV.UK's rules are about people, not names. You usually pay council tax if you are 18 or over, a full bill assumes at least two adults live in the home, and spouses and partners who live together are jointly responsible for paying it. You get 25% off if you live on your own, or if everyone else in the home is disregarded, as full-time students are, and you have to apply for the discount. In Scotland, mygov.scot calls it the single adult discount and says to check with your council.
So a new surname neither starts nor ends a discount. What can change the bill is the event that often comes with it: a partner moving in, a separation or a divorce. Cornwall treats a partner moving in, or someone named on the bill moving out, as a change in who is responsible, reported on its change of address form, and says changes that may affect a discount must be reported within 21 days. Fife lists "you've changed your name" and "you've got divorced" as separate changes. GOV.UK warns that if you get a discount by mistake you must contact your council, or you could get a fine.
If the name on the account is not yours#
Reporting a change of name for someone else on the account is handled differently. South Cambridgeshire asks for a Letter of Authority confirming you are allowed to give the information, and Birmingham sends you to its change of address form instead.
Northern Ireland: domestic rates#
In Northern Ireland the bill for your home is a domestic rate bill. nidirect says domestic rates must be paid on every residential property there, and that Land & Property Services (LPS) assesses the rates, sends the bills and collects them. LPS has an online form to update the personal details on your rate bill, and nidirect lists name changes among the changes it records; you need the occupancy ID, one of three reference numbers printed on the bill. LPS discusses a rate bill only with the account holder, unless they have authorised someone else on its third party authorisation form. Changing your name in Northern Ireland covers the rest.
Questions people ask
Can I change my name on my council tax online?
With most councils, yes. You need the account number from your bill, and GOV.UK's find your local council service gives you the council's website from a postcode. Leeds is the exception among those we checked for a deed poll: it takes the copy by post or at a One Stop Centre.
Does it cost anything to change the name on my council tax?
None of the councils we checked mentions a fee. The only cost is a copy of your deed poll if your council wants one, and for Cardiff a photo or screenshot will do.
Will changing my name affect my single person discount?
No. GOV.UK gives the 25% discount when you live on your own or everyone else in your home is disregarded, so it turns on who lives there. If a partner moves in when you marry, that is the change to report.
Should my husband's or wife's name be on the council tax bill?
GOV.UK says spouses and partners who live together are jointly responsible for paying the bill. Adding a person, or changing who is responsible, is a different request from a change of name: Cornwall, for example, takes a partner moving in on its change of address form.
Something else? Ask us, and a person replies by email, normally the same working day.
