Council tax debts to be taken straight from pay in Wolverhampton crackdown
Council tax debt could be deducted from people’s earnings under new powers given to council chiefs.
Wolverhampton Council will crack down on residents trying to cheat the system through a new pilot, which aims to help them recover unpaid council tax.
The new powers mean non-paying residents who are employed, or have an income, will be contacted first before their debt is deducted directly from their earnings through their employer.
The authority was chosen to take part in the HM Revenues & Customs trial, which allows them to use new debt information-sharing powers introduced by the Digital Economy Act 2017.
Majority
The Act allows councils to obtain employer and income information from HMRC for people who have failed to pay their council tax and have an order to pay from a Magistrates’ Court.
Councillor Louise Miles, Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for resources, said: “The vast majority of our residents pay their council tax.
“However, there is a small minority of people who try and cheat the system and these are the people we are targeting through this pilot.
Struggling
“Unpaid council tax cost Wolverhampton taxpayers almost £6 million last year.
“We are not talking about those people who are struggling to makes ends meet and genuinely can’t pay their bills – we try and support them as much as possible.”
The pilot will last for a year, before being reviewed and a decision being made on whether to roll the programme out to all councils.
