Council aims to cut council tax cheat by £900,000

Dec 1 2008 by Katie Campling, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A NEW system to catch council tax cheats could save Kirklees Council £900,000 a year.

The council has tried out a scheme in selected areas which checks whether people receiving a single person’s discount on their council tax are really living alone.

The scheme was piloted for eight weeks from July this year, targeting 5,000 homes in Huddersfield.

It allowed the council to remove some single person discounts, meaning they can charge £80,000 in extra council tax this year.

Council officers hope to have this money collected by March 2009.

About 6% of the 5,000 homes had their 25% discount removed – and officers predict that if 6% of all Kirklees homes are taken off the discount list an £900,000 a year will be collected in council tax.

Clr Andrew Palfreeman, cabinet member for finance, said: “There has been a group of people in Huddersfield who have been shocked to find that if they have been claiming single person discount on council tax and they shouldn’t have been, we have been able to point out the error of their ways. It’s been a very successful pilot.”