A TAX ATTACK

10-01-2007

John Mellor with a few radical proposals to tackle the ever growing mountain of unpaid council tax bills.


34 councils across the West Midlands and staffordshire were unable to collect £53,645.000 of council tax, during the tax year 05/06. Total uncollected tax for the whole of the country for the same period was £739 million

Many pensioners faced with Council Tax demands rising at twice the rate of inflation will want to know why highly salaried officers allow this state of affairs to exist. After all, if a pensioner resists paying some of his or her Council Tax a prison cell awaits.

Council tax is levied against property and if tax is unpaid then the law should be changed so that the outstanding amount remains a charge against the property and should be paid before a transfer of ownership takes place

There is no excuse for tenants in housing controlled by the Council not paying Council Tax apart from sheer inefficiency by the Housing officers concerned.

What is required is a greater emphasis placed on lettings departments to ensure tax is paid, rather than finance departments?

In the case of private rented property, if the tenant fails to pay Council Tax the bills should revert to the owner/Housing association whou could then have action taken against them.

This way at least everybody's tax would get paid - and those of us who stump up withought question might find our bill actually falling.

Now there's a thought eh?