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27
May 2021
Harrogate council writes off £632,000 in unpaid council tax and rates
Harrogate Borough Council has written off more than £632,000 in unpaid council tax and business rates bills which stretch back almost a decade.
The debts – some of which stretch back to 1993 – were owed for a variety of reasons including taxpayers being untraceable, dead or in prison, and businesses going bust.
Matthew Waite-Wright, revenues and income manager at the council, told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday all attempts to recover the cash had been exhausted and that the amount written off was “minute” in comparison to the £237 million total collections this year.
He said:
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Harrogate council is not only responsible for collecting its own council tax and business rates charges but also those for North Yorkshire County Council and police and fire services. All figures mentioned also include these public organisations.
A breakdown of the debts written off show almost £339,000 was unpaid council tax bills and around £285,000 was unpaid business rates.
The most common reasons for outstanding payments were old debts which were “unreasonable to chase” and business insolvency. Other reasons included incorrect bills being issued, debtors moving abroad and ill health.
Mr Waite-Wright said in a report that writing off debts is good accountancy practice and would not impact on the council’s spending plans.
He said:
Earlier this week Harrogate Borough Council apologised for wrongly sending letters to residents threatening them with court action for not paying council tax after incorrectly billing them in May this year.
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