Nearly 2000 to get council tax written off

NEARLY 2000 council tax dodgers avoided paying their dues to Dumfries and Galloway Council last year, it has been revealed. The local authority has written off a huge list of unpaid council tax debts of under £10,000 between October 1 last year and March 31 this year. There were 1909 accounts scrubbed – which amounted to a total of £423,257 of lost income. This equates to an average of £221 in debt for each account. Council tax chiefs gave various reasons for giving up on chasing the debts, including “gone away with no trace”, “no realistic prospects of recovery”, and “uneconomic to pursue”. The figures were published in a debt write-offs report that was recently tabled at the council’s enabling and customer services committee. Lorna Campbell, the council’s revenues and benefits manager, wrote: “In year collection levels for council tax have been consistently between 95 per cent to 97 per cent over the past few years. “The service continues to pursue all debt after the end of the financial year and total collection rates (taking into account amounts collected in subsequent years) reach over 98 per cent.” It was also revealed that several business owners have also avoided paying significant bills which amounted to a total of £243,252. The report confirmed that there were seven cases where non-domestic rates were not paid on business properties in Dumfries town centre and a hotel in Castle Douglas. Two debt cases – one for £11,700 and another for £70,650 b– were racked up at the same premises in Dumfries. Annandale South Councillor Sean Marshall asked: “These are two separate companies but they seem to have been operating from the same address. “Is there any more detail on why that was the case?” Lorna Campbell replied: “From the information I have, both of those were tenants. They were leasing it from the landlord over different periods.” These debts had to be written off because the companies have since dissolved. Other companies also went under while still owing non-domestic rates to the council last year, ranging from £11,205 to £109,348. The council report states: “The service continues to work closely with the sheriff officers to look at large debts to explore all areas of recovery, however it is anticipated that a number of these may lead to an increase in write-offs in the future.”