Consultation on council tax collection changes

A CONSULTATION to make council tax collection in England fairer, including stamping out “unacceptable, aggressive” practices, has been launched by the Government.

- VICKY SHAW

It is seeking views over the next 12 weeks on the administration of council tax, including how council tax is billed and how payments are collected and enforced.

To help households manage their finances, the Government is proposing changing council tax billing from 10 months to 12 months by default, while maintaining the ability for households to pay over 10 months where preferable. Council tax bills tend to be paid through 10 instalments (from April to January) and the majority of the 25 million council tax bills issued each year in England are paid by this method.

But 12 month instalments could help households to spread the cost of their bills over a longer period. The average band D household would be paying around £38 less each month if they paid over 12 months because the total cost would be spread across more instalments, the consultation document said.

Under the proposals, households would still have the right to request 10 monthly instalments if they wanted to, with the request being made by April 15 of the relevant year.