Local councils plan to recover outstanding taxes
As we covered recently there is an estimated £750 million of local taxes outstanding in the UK - although there is some dispute as to whether this is recoverable, is being recovered or is a long term debt. The suggestion, by the Unions, that the figure is around the £750 million level has prompted fury from many local councils. But what is really going on?
It was interesting to see that while many councils came out to suggest that the figure was wrong, they did confirm that they will be looking to reclaiming all over due taxes. But surely if this was in hand already there would be no need to reaffirm a commitment which should already have been in place?
There is a growing concern that many councils around the UK have been very lax in collecting overdue taxes and the suspicion that many local councils are still awash with cash reserves does not seem to go away. If these councils were as poor as they try to make out then surely they would have been chasing these outstanding amounts without being prompted?
Much like the Working Tax Credit system there is a feeling that those who play by the book are the ones who lose out.
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