Pay your council tax

Payments are due on the first day of each month for people who have not arranged to pay by direct debit.

By law, everyone has the right to pay their council tax by monthly instalments unless that right has been lost. Find out what happens if you don’t pay your council tax.

• read our guide to council tax 2020/21

By direct debit

Direct debit is the easiest way to pay your council tax. You just pick a payment date that suits you (1st, 14th, 21st or 28th of the month) and your payment is automatically debited from your account each month.

Sign up for direct debit

You can also call us on 020 8356 3154 and we will set it up for you. 

Pay online

Pay your council tax

By phone

You can pay your council tax using your debit or credit card by calling 020 8356 5050.

We accept payment from: Switch, Visa, Maestro, Visa Electron, Mastercard and Solo cards.

By PayM

PayM is a simple, secure way to send and receive payments using your mobile banking app and Hackney’s dedicated PayM mobile phone number.

To pay by PayM, just follow these three easy steps:

1. Enable PayM on your mobile banking app. Visit PayM for more detailed instructions for your own bank and to check that they offer PayM
2. Save the London Borough of Hackney’s mobile payment number, 07535 844 354, to your mobile phone contacts
3. Using your mobile banking app set up a PayM payment:

• 1. select the account you want to debit
  2. choose the London Borough of Hackney from your contacts list
  3. enter the amount you want to pay
  4. enter you council tax reference number and submit the payment

When the payment has been made, you will receive a confirmation message on your mobile device.

By post

You can send a cheque to the Hackney self-service centre, 2 Hillman Street, E8 1FB. You should write clearly your reference number on the reverse of the cheque. Please do not send cash through the post.

At a bank or post office

Current advice from the Government is to stay at home wherever possible, so we would recommend paying your council tax bill by direct debit.

However, if this is not possible you can pay your council tax bill by cash or cheque at some bank branches and post offices using the payment slips provided with your payment booklet. Please check your local branch or post office for opening hours, which may be different to normal opening hours.

There should be no charge for this facility. However, some banks may charge if you are making a payment at a bank other than your own.

Important: you must make sure that we receive your instalments on or before the dates shown on your bill. This means that you should allow:

• 6 extra days if you pay by cheque at the post office
• 3 extra working days if you pay by cash at the post office or through your bank

Even if we receive your payments later that same month, we may still send you reminders or final notices.

By PayPoint

You can pay your council tax in person at any PayPoint outlet.