Baliffs threatening arrest

debtdrinker

Not sure where to have posted this.

I'm due to pay my coucnil tax for this year, I have been in financial trouble, lost my right to pay in installments and then the full yearly fee is crippling. I've paid off a few months, financially things are looking better and I should be able to pay this off very soon - but I've had so many last chances and now the bailliffs are threatening arrest.

Can they do this?

chilli_dog

Bailliffs cannot arrest you, only the police can do that.
They may mean they looking to levy distress on your goods, bailiffs will lie to you.

debtdrinker

They've visited and I either haven't allowed them in or I've missed them, so they have given up trying to get goods and now are saying this.

Again I'm not trying to avoid paying it's just I need time, people owe me money too.

CIS

A bailiff cant arrest you for Council Tax debt. I suspect what they're meaning is that they'll return the account for comittal procedures. This would involve going in front of a magistrate and amy involve a prison sentence.

moonrakerz

CIS wrote: »

A. This would involve going in front of a magistrate and amy involve a prison sentence.

A prison sentence for non payment of Council Tax is usually only passed where there has been a deliberate non payment. This is a bit silly really, because the deliberate non payers are usually "happy" to get a prison sentence for the publicity !

codger

Sorry to disagree (slightly!) with CIS, but I've worked for and with several major Local Authorities in the UK and where payment of Council Tax is concerned, it's very much the case that the Authority WILL do everything it can to press for a prison sentence.

The reasons have less to do with finance, and more to do with politics:

1) Finance: the Authority uses imprisonment as a "to encourage others" device to pay up

2) Politics: the Authority uses imprisonment to demonstrate to electors how vigorous it is in pursuit of 'law breakers' and how wonderful it is for doing so. . . and hence, deserves to be re-elected next time around.

I've lost track of the number of times a junior assistant in the City / Borough Treasurer's Office rushed into a Council's PR & Marketing section waving a sheet of paper with the name of a Council Tax defaulter about to be imprisoned. Invariably, there's a request to add a quote into the Press Release from the Chair of Finance to the effect that he / she is ever vigilant on behalf of taxpayers in our community (unquote).

Nowadays, Council Tax defaulters are very much a part of the re-election machine of whichever party happens to run a Local Authority.

So instead of paying up, they really ought to be paid themselves -- after all, Blair's army of consultants, special advisers, etc et al exist to ensure the perpetuation of Labour in Government, and at salaries beyond the imagination of those poor sods who can't pay their Council Tax. . .

Moral: fail to pay your Council Tax, and you're worth several thousand votes to the party in power at the Council that really, really, really wants you to be locked up.

CIS

Moral: fail to pay your Council Tax, and you're worth several thousand votes to the party in power at the Council that really, really, really wants you to be locked up.

I wish we would practice committal in my dept, the occassional bankruptcy is the most we push for and thats from a 'recovery minded' management.

moonrakerz

I stand by my original statement regarding prison sentences for non payment of Council Tax.

According to the Tax Payers Alliance (no Government stooges !) 3 Million summonses are issued each year for non payment of Council tax.
Council Tax.

Below is an extract from Hansard:-

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) fined and (b) jailed for offences relating to the non-payment of council tax, including disregarding court orders to pay council tax, since May 1997. [17499]


Fiona Mactaggart: The information on those received into prison establishments by way of enforcement proceedings for council tax is shown in the table. The information on those fined is not recorded centrally.
Receptions into prison for non-payment of the community charge/council tax—England and Wales

Number
1997 357
1998 194
1999 101
2000 41
2001 29
2002 21
2003 30
2004 26

Just as I said - a few very deliberate non-payers after publicity !

PS: a strange one on this subject - if you are in prison, you don't have to pay Council Tax on any property you own, UNLESS the jail sentence is for non-payment of ......................

CIS

PS: a strange one on this subject - if you are in prison, you don't have to pay Council Tax on any property you own, UNLESS the jail sentence is for non-payment of ......................

or a court fine

Alfonso_Skinarelli

CIS wrote: »

A bailiff cant arrest you for Council Tax debt. I suspect what they're meaning is that they'll return the account for comittal procedures. This would involve going in front of a magistrate and amy involve a prison sentence.

I would also like to disagree with CIS. As an acting bailiff myself, I can confirm that in some circumstances we do indeed "collect" on arrest warrants connected to Council Tax debt.

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].