More than 9,000 Reading taxpayers owed share of £1.6m

Reading Borough Council owes £1.6m in overpaid council tax

More than 9,000 taxpayers in Reading are owed a share of £1.6m in council tax refunds, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) owes £1,647,678.91 of overpaid council tax.

The authority said there are multiple reasons why accounts are overpaid, including people paying in advance before leaving the borough and council tax band changes.

Reading Borough Council is itself owed £77m in unpaid council tax.

The FOI request, issued by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, revealed there are 9,778 residents owed money in the borough.

The highest amount an individual taxpayer is owed is £7,732.58.

"Not always possible" to refund taxpayers

A spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: "When someone pays by direct debit, the council is in most instances able to refund the overpaid tax quickly back into their account."

However, they added that this is "not always possible" if people pay via alternative methods.

"Credit applications are always sent with adjustment notices advising of the credit and detailing how to claim the refund," the spokesperson said.

"These are issued to the forwarding address, or their last known address.

"If someone has moved out of the area and not provided their forwarding address, it is not always possible to trace them."

The council does have a system which monitors and seeks to proactively refund taxpayers' credit balances.

These credit balances may be claimed at any point and are only written off "as a last resort when there is no realistic prospect of locating the council taxpayer."

'Actively pursue'

RBC itself is owed £77,156,032.96 by taxpayers.

Last year, the council's tax collection rate was 95%, but this will rise to 99% this year as the authority pursues outstanding payments.

A spokesperson for the council said: "In terms of residents who owe council tax, we do not hold specific or accurate data on reasons for non-payment. The council will however actively pursue all council debts owed.

"In the case of customers who abscond, who are subject to insolvency action or where the debt is statute barred, the council may consider the debt is suitable to be written-off as a last resort."