Councils fail to collect £2.7 billion Council Tax
A huge £2.7 billion in Council Tax remains unpaid, since its introduction in 1993.
Councils have failed to collect £2.7 billion of Council Tax, according to new figures from the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG).
This is an ongoing cumulative total of Council Tax owed, dating right back to when it was introduced in 1993 up until 31st March 2015.
During 2014/15 councils collected £570 million of outstanding Council Tax arrears, but wrote off around £191 million as “uncollectable”.
Overall collection rates were 97% in 2014/15, the same as in 2013/14.
The worst performers
You can see the collection rates for each of the local authorities in England using table six on this section of the Gov.uk website to compare how your local council performs.
But I’ve picked out the local authorities with the worst collection rates in the table below.
|
Local authority |
Percentage of Council Tax collected 2014/15 |
Percentage of Council Tax collected 2013/14 |
|
Salford |
91.6% |
92.2% |
|
Manchester |
91.8% |
91.7% |
|
Blackpool |
92.4% |
93.1% |
|
Nottingham |
92.5% |
93.2% |
|
Oldham |
93.1% |
93.8% |
|
Rochdale |
93.5% |
93.0% |
|
Middlesbrough |
93.6% |
93.4% |
|
Derby |
93.6% |
93.3% |
|
Greenwich |
93.6% |
93.1% |
|
Kingston upon Hull |
93.6% |
94.2% |
|
Doncaster |
93.9% |
93.8% |
|
Newham |
94.0% |
92.5% |
|
Hackney |
94.0% |
93.6% |
|
Sheffield |
94.0% |
93.7% |
|
Tameside |
94.0% |
94.2% |
|
Bradford |
94.2% |
94.3% |
|
Barking and Dagenham |
94.3% |
94.1% |
|
Lewisham |
94.3% |
94.1% |
|
Wakefield |
94.4% |
94.4% |
|
Portsmouth |
94.5% |
94.0% |
|
Birmingham |
94.6% |
95.3% |
|
Preston |
94.6% |
94.6% |
|
Liverpool |
94.7% |
94.6% |
|
Hyndburn |
94.7% |
94.4% |
|
Peterborough |
94.8% |
95.3% |
|
Southampton |
94.9% |
95.1% |
|
Leicester |
94.9% |
94.8% |
Salford council had the worst collection rates compared to the rest of England. The 8.4% that remains unpaid (dating back to the introduction of Council Tax) is worth £7.8 million.
Neighbouring Manchester is no better, responsible for a shortfall of a whopping £12.3 million, while Blackpool accounts for £4.3 million.
Council Tax debts
Citizens Advice and the StepChange Debt Charity have both reported significant jumps in the number of people struggling with Council Tax debt this year. According to Citizens Advice, it is now the most common problem it sees - it reckons it will deal with 191,400 Council Tax debt issues this year, a 20% increase.
This could be to do with the changes to Council Tax benefit in 2013 (which saw it replaced with a localised Council Tax support), which meant that more than two million low-income families have had to pay an average of nearly £140 more Council Tax a year.
Council Tax arrears are classed as a priority debt, so not paying can lead to significant problems. Your local authority can apply to take the money you owe from your benefits or wages, bailiffs can be sent to your home or you could even be sent to prison.
More on tax:
Tax and benefit changes 2015/16
The towns that pay the most Income Tax
Where Council Tax is rising and falling in 2015/16
Most Recent
Comments
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These hypocrites cannot even practice what the preach! Please see below they extort money from us to fund their yearly allowance of up to ( In Wales ) £44k p/a plus expenses. Yet while they tell us to pay what they force us to on time or face their rigged up liability order costs that adds hundreds more to the bill, the hypocritical councillors who profit from it all, don't even follow what they preach to those of us trapped in their system. Could it really get worse or more hypocritical? Nine Cardiff councillors ended up in council tax arrears with their own council last financial year An ITV News investigation has revealed that nine Cardiff councillors were in council tax arrears during the last financial year. It's by far the worst case in Wales of councillors owing money to their own local authority
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Hello yes I agree with the first comment Councils do not operate properly, I had a flat in Rowner which was destroyed by the sewage of two Rottweilers above m e -- these dogs lived on outside balconies. I tried to get the council to stop the sewage destroying my flat, I wrote hundreds of letters, all the council depts did nothing. However now five years latter they say I owe them £1,000 in Council TAX. They have now sent Debt Recovery on to me . I asked them to write this amount off they just keep harassing me oven though three years ago the 301 were CPO ed ect. There is no sense to the way councils operate.
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Council tax is extortion end of. Most of the money is wasted on over staffing and duplication of what the next council do. Get rid of over paid useless CEO's directors and senior manager's. There are 433 councils that 433 CEO's thats ridiculous,add on their x 433 entourages and PA's etc etc. Its a joke all they do is look after themselves. In wales one CEO had so much time on his hands with nothing to do, he found time to write a report recommending himself for a £30k a year pay rise, he is now waiting trail. While another CEO fiddled on the CT payer a Porsche to run around in at CT payers expense. Its a racket plain and simple, most of the money is wasted in house, while if we the public being forced to fund it are lucky if we get 10% spent on us. End the gravy train, and make these parasites work for a change.
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21 July 2015