Manage your property rates

Pay your rates easily with a range of different payment options. Update your account and find extra rates information.

Hands holding credit card and using laptop

Make a rates payment

Choose from a range of payment options to pay your rates.

To pay your rates, you’ll need:

your rates notice
your bill number (located in the top right hand corner of your rates notice), or account number (located on the third page of your rates notice)
a form of payment such as card or cash (depending on your preferred payment method).

Note

A surcharge of 0.78% applies when paying with credit or debit card. To avoid paying the surcharge, pay by BPAY, mail or by visiting an Australia Post.

Find out more about the credit and debit card surcharge.

Pay your rates online via Council's payment service. Use your:

Mastercard
Visa credit or debit card
American Express.

The minimum payment amount is $10.

Pay your rates online opens in a new tab

Did you Know?

You can donate your $15 rates discount to the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust to support Brisbane’s grassroots charities.

Learn about the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust and pay your rates with a donation onlineopens in a new tab.

Make a Council rates payment with BPAY through internet or mobile banking, or by phoning your bank.

You'll need your Customer Reference Number from your rates notice to make a payment. BPAY payments do not incur a surcharge.

To pay your rates use biller code 78550.

Did you know?

You can donate your $15 rates discount to the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust to support Brisbane’s grassroots charities. To do this use biller code 319186.

Learn about the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust.

You can use the Sniip app to pay your rates.

Download Sniipopens in a new tab onto your iPhone or Android phone.
Select 'scan to pay bills'.
Scan the QR code on your rates notice.

Important things to know

Sniip is not currently available on iPads or tablets.
The minimum payment amount is $10.
Council accepts Mastercard, Visa credit and debit card and American Express payments.

You can pay your rates over the phone using your:

Mastercard
Visa credit or debit card
American Express.

Phone 1300 309 311 and follow the prompts. You'll need to provide your:

bill number or account number
card number, expiry date and validation number.

When the payment is complete, you'll receive a transaction number for your records.

You can pay your rates by mailing the statement section of your rates notice with a cheque or money order to:

Brisbane City Council
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001.

Make sure you pay on or before the due date for the early payment discount (if eligible). Allow time for mail delivery and processing.

You can pay your rates at any Council Customer Centre or Australia Post.

Pay in person at a Council Customer Centre

Council accepts:

cash
credit card
EFTPOS (Mastercard and Visa only)
cheque
money order
payment in instalments.

Find a Council Customer Centre

Pay in person at Australia Post

Pay your rates at Australia Post using your rates notice or payment card. Australia Post accepts:

cash
EFTPOS (excluding credit cards)
cheque.

Find your nearest post office opens in a new tab

Looking for something else

How rates are calculated

Rates relief, rebates and exemptions

Bills, renewals and other payments

Set up automatic payments

You can set up a direct debit to ensure your rates account is always paid on time or set up a recurring payment using your credit card.

Make direct debit rates payments from your savings or cheque account.

Complete a direct debit request form to:

set up a direct debit
cancel or amend a payment
cancel a donation to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust
defer the authority.

Complete the Direct Debit Request form online opens in a new tab

Alternatively, you can download a form:

Rates Direct Debit Request form

PDF • 97 KB • Last modified 13 November 2024

opens in a new tab

Return the form to Council:

by emailopens in a new tab
in person at a Council Customer Centre
by mail to:
Brisbane City Council
Rates Management
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001

To request a hard copy of this form:

phone Council on 07 3403 8888
visit a Council Customer Centre
contact your local ward office.

Set up a recurring payment using your:

Visa card
Mastercard
American Express.

You can choose your payment frequency, start and end dates.

Complete the credit card payment form online opens in a new tab

Important things to know

Remember, your payment schedule should allow your rate account to be paid in full by the due date.
This option will not result in Council taking the outstanding balance on your rate account at its due date. To do this:
- set up a direct debit from your savings or cheque account
- get SMS reminders of your rate account balance.
A 0.78% surcharge applies to each recurring credit card payment for rates. This surcharge will appear on your next rates notice.

You can request to:

update your credit card expiry
suspend or cancel your recurring payments
change your recurring payment amount.

Suspend a recurring payment opens in a new tab

Update a credit card expiry opens in a new tab

Cancel a recurring payment opens in a new tab

Change a recurring payment amount opens in a new tab

Manage your account

Change your contact details, choose how to receive your rates notice or provide a non-owner with authority on your rates account.

Paper bill fee

Council has introduced a fee for quarterly paper rates notices (from 1 December 2024 for commercial notices and from 1 January 2025 for residential notices).

This $1.98 GST inclusive fee has been implemented to cover the additional costs involved when issuing physical rates notices. The fee appears on page 3 on the rates notice, under the Account Details section.

Avoid the fee and make the switch to paperless billing and receive your rates notice by email. By opting to receive free SMS reminders, you won't forget when your bill is due. Over 50% of Brisbane ratepayers have already made the switch to digital billing.

Receive your rates notice by email

Apply to receive your rates notice by email. Cancel email or SMS reminders and update an email address or mobile number.

Learn moreopens in a new tab

Change your contact details

Keep your postal address and other contact details up to date. This ensures your rates are delivered correctly, to avoid late payment fees.

Update your detailsopens in a new tab

Rates account authority

Use this form to provide a non-owner access to make changes to your rates account. Giving someone authority means they will be able to access personal and financial information about you and make enquiries about your property.

Grant non-owner accessopens in a new tab

Information for ratepayers

Council issues rates quarterly and payment is due within 30 days of the issue date.

Types of rates

There are 3 different types of rates in Brisbane:

All ratepayers pay general rates. They provide facilities and services that benefit the community, such as:

roads, bridges, kerbing and channelling
parks and gardens
immunisation services
libraries and community activities
pest eradication.

A certain group of ratepayers pay special rates and charges. They have access to or benefit from special services, facilities or activities.

These include:

Queen Street Mall, Chinatown and Valley malls
suburban centre improvement projects
living village development levies.

Credit and debit card surcharge

There’s a 0.78% surcharge for rates payments made by:

Visa credit and debit cards
Mastercard
American Express.

This surcharge covers the fees Council is charged for these payment methods.

Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust

The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust supports Brisbane’s grassroots charities.

Learn more about the Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust opens in a new tab

Important things to know

You must pay your rates by the due date to be able to donate your $15 discount to the Lord Mayor's Charitable Trust.
Donations are tax deductible.
Council will issue you a tax receipt.
The chosen charities have Deductible Gift Recipient status. The trust is a registered charity under the Collections Act 1966.

Helpful links

Frequently asked questions

If you apply for email updates for your rates, you won’t receive quarterly paper notices in the mail. However, some communications regarding your rates will continue to be delivered by mail. It’s important to keep your postal address up to date with Council.

No, email billing doesn’t authorise a person or organisation to act on behalf of an owner. Email billing is a delivery method only.

If you’re an owner or are acting on behalf of one, you can give authorisationopens in a new tab on your rate account.

No, you can't reply to rates notice emails. As the email account is for outbound emails only, replies won't be read or actioned.

To ask questions about your rates notice:

You’ll receive a receipt number if your online rates payment has been successful. You can also check:

with your financial institution
your next monthly bank statement.

The easiest way to pay your rates is online Pay your rates online opens in a new tab

Manage your property rates

On this page

Make a rates payment

Pay in person at a Council Customer Centre

Pay in person at Australia Post

Set up automatic payments