NORTH WARWICKSHIRE BOROUGH COUNCIL

COUNCIL TAX DISCRETIONARY DISCOUNT POLICY

1Background

1.1Under Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as inserted by Section 76 of the Local Government Act 2003), the Council has the discretionary power to reduce liability for Council Tax in relation to individual cases or class(es) of cases that it may determine and where national discounts and exemptions cannot be applied.

1.2There are financial implications to awarding any discounts other than those currently available under the statutory legislation and the financial burden of Section 13A discounts is met wholly by the Billing Authority (i.e. the Council) and is not shared by the preceptors.

1.3As a consequence of these financial implications meaning the Council only retains approximately 15% of the Council Tax collected, it is highly unlikely that this provision will be used without prior agreement from local preceptors to contribute towards a discount or exemption to any group of individuals or class of property.

1.4In the summary, it has been agreed that the Council will only consider using its discretionary powers to reduce Council Tax liability for an individual Council Taxpayer or class of Council Taxpayer in exceptional circumstances and will treat all applications on their individual merits.

2 Policy Objectives

2.1 Some or all of the following criteria must be met for a case to be considered for this relief:

  • There must be evidence of financial hardship or how an individual has been adversely affected to justify a reduction in Council Tax liability.
  • The Council Taxpayer must satisfy the Council that they have taken all reasonable steps to mitigate their hardship such as
  • applying for Council Tax Support
  • applying for all other eligible discounts/reliefs or allowances
  • taken all reasonable steps to avoid a request being made(i.e.) must not have been personally negligent in contributing to their request
  • The Council Taxpayer must not have access to other assets that could reasonably be used to pay Council Tax liability if based on hardship
  • The Council's financial position allows for a reduction to be approved

2.2 Any genuine inability to pay where it is proven not to be as a result of wilful refusal or culpable neglect will be considered separately under the Councils write off policy where all remedies to recover monies have been exhausted or are inappropriate to use in the individual case.

3 Application Process

3.1 Applications must be

  • Made in writing by the council taxpayer or by someone authorised to act on their behalf and;
  • Supported by any reasonable evidence which the council requires in support of the application.

3.2Separate claims must be made in respect of different dwellings and/or council tax accounts.

4Decision Making

4.1The Revenues and Benefits Manager will make the initial determination of any application and gain approval of the Assistant Chief Executive (Community Services) of the decision before informing the Council Taxpayer.

4.2Any award granted will cease at the end of the relevant financial year and a re-application will be required for consideration of an ongoing discount.

5Notification of Decision

5.1The Council will notify a Council Tax Payer of its decision in writing within 14 days or as soon as reasonably practicable.

6Review of decision

6.1The decision of the Council to refusea statutory discount or exemption can be appealed under Section 16, Local Government Finance Act 1992

6.2This entitles the applicant to request a review of itsdecision. This evidence will be reconsidered by the original decision makers as outlined in paragraph 4.1 and reviewed by the Deputy Chief Executive, the Council’s Section 151 Officer.

6.3The decision will be notified in writing and if still aggrieved, the Council Taxpayer has 2 months to appeal the matter direct to the Valuation Tribunal.

7Fraudulent Claims

7.1If a reduction has been made as result of a fraudulent claim, the Council reserves the right to withdraw the award and may prosecute any applicant who makes a false statement or provides fraudulent evidence in support of an application.

Policy agreed: 25 March 2013