Single person discounts for council tax show discrepancies
Annual checks have found one in 40 people claiming a single-person tax discount are not entitled to it, Telford and Wrekin Council has said.
The council held a three-week amnesty spanning May and June to allow people to declare an unregistered change in circumstances and surrender the discount without facing further action, such as back-payments or a fine.
Householders get 25 per cent off their council tax bill if they live alone or are they only person in the property over 18 years old or out of full-time education.
There are around 79,000 households in the borough that are liable to pay council tax, and just under a third of these claim the discount.
A spokesperson for the authority said people can report changes to their household circumstances at any time, so it was unclear how many people were specifically taking advantage of the amnesty, but added that yearly reviews using credit reference data to identify discrepancies “usually result in a 2.5 per cent reduction” in claims.
The amnesty ended earlier this month.
“Customers can report changes in single person discount at any point, using the website, via phone call or in writing.
“We undertake an annual review. For the last few years we have compared the information to credit reference data held by a third party to identify discrepancies.
“This usually results in a 2.5 per cent reduction in single person discounts.”
