Wychavon council response to hundreds not paying taxes

A total of 249 peopled have been charged with non-payment of council taxes.

Jayne Pickering, deputy chief executive for Wychavon District Council, explained that they had been left with no other choice than to take the matter to court.

“We always give everybody an opportunity to pay, and support is available for those who genuinely need it,” she said.

“But we have a duty to taxpayers to make sure we are making every effort to recover money owed as non-payment means less money is available to fund essential services.

“Court action is a last resort though.”

She added that the pandemic has impacted upon businesses, with business rate collection dropping by 10 per cent.

A total of 64 defendants have been charged with not paying non-domestic rates.

Non-domestic rates are taxes charged on properties outside of the council’s boundaries, such as shops, offices, pubs, warehouses, factories and holiday rental homes.

The rates are worked out based on a property’s rateable value.

Ms Pickering said: “The vast majority of Council Tax owed is collected by us.

“In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years we collected 98.6 per cent of council tax.

“For business rates we collected 99.1 per cent in 2019/20 and more than 89 per cent in 2020/21 although the figure was affected by the impact of the pandemic on businesses.”

Wychavon District Council only keeps about 6p in every pound paid to them.

The rest of the money is distributed to the other organisations that make up the council tax bill, such as Worcestershire County Council, West Mercia Police, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service as well as various parish and town councils.

Ms Pickering added that the council will do all they can to help those struggling to pay their taxes.

She said: “If anybody is struggling to pay either their council tax or business rates bill then please get in touch with us as soon as possible.

“The sooner we know, the sooner we can start helping.”