Labour councils owed twice as much in unpaid tax compared to Tories

Labour councils are owed almost twice as much in unpaid taxes compared to Tories.

Campaigners are accusing councils of failing to chase down council tax avoiders, with over £4.4 billion owed to councils across the UK.

Labour councils make up £2.5 billion of that total and Tory councils account for £672 million. This is in part due to Labour controlling 155 councils and the Conservatives only 81.

The Telegraph found that Labour councils are chasing 1.7 times more council tax on average than Tory-led ones. Labour councils also had 2.4 times more accounts in arrears.

Darwin Friend, head of research at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is unacceptable that in many places additional strain is being placed on the taxpayers who pay their bills by those who prefer to skive their responsibility.

“Instead of simply hiking council tax, many local authorities should be focusing on improving collection rates and cracking down on those who are unwilling to pay.”

The government has been criticised for its decision to approve an increase in council tax rates, around three times the rate of inflation. The average house with pay an additional £100 from April.

Liverpool City Council was owed the highest figure of any local authority, £362 million as of April last year, according to data compiled by property firm Sell House Fast.

In second place was Birmingham City Council, which was owed £194 million. A spokesman said three accounts owed more than £450,000 each across multiple properties, despite being flagged to officials four years ago.

About a third of local authorities did not give data to Sell House Fast’s survey. From those that did, it emerged that more than four million accounts were in arrears, equivalent to £1,000 each in unpaid council tax.

Of the ten local authorities owed the most council tax, just one was controlled by the Conservatives – Hillingdon, which is chasing £114 million in unpaid council tax.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: “Councils have a duty to their residents to collect taxes so that important services are not affected, and do collect an average of 96pc of council tax within a year. However, they realise times are still tough for many households and strive to ensure they have fair council tax collection policies.

“High numbers of people are claiming council tax support. Without enough funding to provide this support to those who need it, it is almost inevitable that bills will continue to be forced up for those who can least afford to pay.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Individual councils are responsible for the collection and enforcement of council tax, and the collection rate for council tax remains high at 95.9pc for 2023-24.”