Councillors write off £130k in council and business tax in Stafford

It comes just months after the authority gave up on £77,000 it was owed at the end of last year.

A report set to go to Stafford Borough Council's cabinet on Thursday says that 18 cases of business rates are to be written off which total £130,444.24, while one case of £3,205.56 in council tax will be written off.

The report adds: "The normal course of action has been pursued, namely, bills, reminders and final notices issued and, where appropriate, summonses issued, liability orders obtained and passed to bailiffs for collection and trace.

"Despite these best efforts of council tax and business rates staff, and/or bailiffs, the debtors cannot be traced and no further action can be taken.

"The cost of collecting the debts has been considered as part of the decision to put them forward for write off.

"If further information does come forward about the whereabouts of any of the individual debtors the Council will pursue recovery action."

The borough council also gave up on £55,000 it was owed in business rates and a further £22,000 in council tax after attempts to collect the cash were unsuccessful in December.

The money would have gone towards funding services in the borough but has escaped the clutches of the authority.

Authorities can choose to write off tax owed if there is no realistic way of recouping it or if it is costing too much to chase.

Meanwhile, families across Staffordshire are facing a council tax hike of 2.95 per cent from April – after county council bosses voted through their 2019/20 budget.

This means taxpayers living in a Band D will see their council tax bill rise from £1,210.52 this year to £1,246.23 in 2019/20. And the council tax charged on a Band A will go up from £807.01 to £830.82.