50 per cent will not pay new tax
UP TO half of all residents expected to pay council tax for the first time under Government welfare cuts will refuse.
And it could cost authorities more to chase debts than the total amount owed.
Tens of thousands of residents in North Staffordshire will be hit with council tax charges for the first time from April as local authorities are put in charge of tax benefits within their boundaries.
They will receive 10 per cent less funding than the amount currently paid to claimants by the Government, meaning thousands face benefit cuts.
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But new figures suggest up to 50 per cent of those charged for the first time – about 20,000 people in Stoke-on-Trent – will not pay.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is proposing a 65 per cent cap on the maximum tax benefit claimed.
It means thousands of the city's poorest residents, who are currently ineligible for council tax, face an annual bill of £324 in Band A properties.
And it may cost more in legal recovery fees than the amounts residents refuse to pay – an average of £6.20 per week for first time payers.
Tristram Hunt, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, pictured below, said: "This is a looming catastrophe for local authorities because they will be legally required by the Government to pursue every outstanding amount and yet it is going to cost more to pursue it than the amount unpaid.
"It's a 10 per cent cut, but in excluding pensioners the cuts for everyone else will be much, much higher and in low income areas like Stoke-on-Trent – where people are finding it hard to make ends meet – it will be very difficult.
"In an ideal world everybody pays tax in full and on time. But faced with terrible choices on paying a tax bill or feeding families, we know people will protect their families."
The council has improved its collection rates after allowing debts to mount, but officers are braced for a fresh increase.
The authority's deputy leader Paul Shotton said: "We'll work hard to distinguish between taxpayers who can't pay and those who won't pay.
"We do all we can to help residents who are having difficulties paying.
"For those who face considerable hardship or those who have multiple arrears, we assess each case on its merit and may agree to extended repayment arrangements."
More than 5,000 residents face a cut in benefit payments in Newcastle.
A Newcastle Borough Council spokesman said: "We envisage there will be an increase in arrears due to the fact people who have never had to pay council tax will now be required to.
"We are now putting steps in place to monitor this."
The study was conducted by False Economy, a campaigning group part-funded by unions.
Comments
by tunstall_lad
Monday, November 05 2012, 2:44PM
“Down with the peasants, feed them beans”
by smithy1980
Friday, November 02 2012, 5:20PM
“Everyone has different experiences though. Most people on my street in Stoke work now. The biggest difficulty I had getting a job was during the Labour parties suppposed 'Boom' years, where of course they told us there would be no more bust. It was easy to get a temporary job, or a job in the public sector for a years contract, but nothing worthwhile. Touch wood the last few years have been pretty stable for me.
Each to their own, I would never want the Labour part back in......ever. If they do I am quite fearful of what will happen to this country. Something like Greece is VERY likely.”
by Johntoe
Friday, November 02 2012, 2:19PM
“@ stokeandfail,
OR perhaps it just 'might' have something to do with the fact that, in 1979 I was 26 years years old, I had left school at 15 and walked straight into a job, and was never out of work or on the dole ONCE, until 1980,
In 1979 both my parents worked, both my sisters worked, (my 2 brothers were still in school) everyone in our road in Abbey Hulton, of working age, Worked,
AFTER 1980, and until 1998 the longest I went without getting made redundant as factory after factory closed or only took on temporary workers, was 2 1/2 years, the longest I spent on the dole was just under 2 years,
AFTER 1998/9 the longest I spent out of work was a year, and that was in a little town in the republic of Ireland,
I wonder which political party was in power during those years?..... OH I remember now, the one that began with a 'C'”
by smithy1980
Friday, November 02 2012, 2:10PM
“Its not just Boris though is it? You hate hime because he is a Tory.....
But..
Labour are just as bad...Red Eds brother
http://tinyurl.com/a5dv34b
I would expect him to pay me to listen to him talk his tripe, not have to pay him £25000 per speech. To be fair David Milliband is slightly more personable than his brother Red Ed. Most of the incompetants on the Front bench (Balls + co) are probabaly getting the same as their Tory counter parts. Ed Balls is an awful man, an absolute clueless idiot worse than any Tory by a mile.
Personally I would prefer to encourage everyone not to vote for any of these fools, but I will never happen sadly. Its a sad state of affairs when you have to vote for the lesser of the two evils. I will vote for the party that punishes the worker less.
Interesting Johntoe that you say that you could be better off not working, surely that highlights the problem I have issue with. By working hard; and credit to you for that you SHOULD be earning more than you could get on benefits or work does not pay. Luckily for you you enjoy your chosen line of work but I am sure there are many that do not. Imagine having to work everyday in a job you hate (up at 6 in at 6pm) when you know your next door neighbour is getting more money on the dole and having a relax, walking the dog etc. To me this is a very big problem, work absolutely should pay more.
Anyway I will refrain from reading\commenting on this now as I am sure we will for ever go around in circles.”
by Redtone
Friday, November 02 2012, 1:40PM
“Stokeandfail amazes me... depression is just a body needing work... beneath contempt!”
by stokeandvale
Friday, November 02 2012, 1:34PM
“JOHNTOE
You must not last long at all these jobs you have had (can't imagine why?)
Unless you have an attitude problem?
You are probably better off alone in the backyard.”
by Johntoe
Friday, November 02 2012, 1:21PM
“If ever we needed an indication of just how out of touch with what is reality to most us the Tories are, Check this short video,
http://tinyurl.com/c2ghbkv
Boris (the bas***d) Johnson, says that being paid 250.000 pounds a year ON TOP of his MP and Mayoral salaries for "knocking off a quick article for a newspaper on a sunday morning"...... is....
"chicken feed"
and THESE are the people telling ME that I have to pay more council tax and a 'bedroom tax' because "we are all in it together"
While to HIM a quarter of a million pounds a year is "chicken feed" Hanging would be far too humane,”
by stokeandvale
Friday, November 02 2012, 12:28PM
“Redtone
lot of what passes for depression these days is nothing more than a body saying that it needs work.
p.s your not ignoring the government today, because Smithy 1980 has got your number?”
by Redtone
Friday, November 02 2012, 11:17AM
“I'm ignoring the government today - let's see where that gets me... because I thought it was just Nu Labour who used benefits & 'entitlement' as weapons.
I have an illness called depression that was apparently cured over night in May 2010. Before you spiteful Tory apologists come on, I would invite you to walk a mile in my shoes... failing that, send a 16th century barber to sort me out.”
by stokeandvale
Friday, November 02 2012, 10:49AM
“JOHNTOE
Well lets hope things do pick up.
I do think the Tory's will get it right, but it seems some people expect a miracle recovery in a short time. It is going to take a whole term to put us back on the road to recovery.
I am sure when the election arrives the National Debt will be shown to have slashed enough for a out and out Tory goverment, not that I dont mind an alliance as was proved the other night with losing the vote, it keeps a goverment on its toes!”