Aberdeen City Council Tax Refunds

Gaberdeen

Good Morning, Everyone.

I know this is a very, very specific post but it should be applicable to all local authorities, not just Aberdeen.

Earlier this year a senior council worker was convicted of embezzling over £1m over a 17 year period by siphoning off unclaimed council tax refunds. The Council at the time promised to contact any taxpayers affected but as of this week, they are still refusing to do so.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx26rgdrgnyo

So as a form of PSA - if you are a council tax payer, you might want to contact the your local authority and enquire as to whether you were affected or better still whether there's a different outstanding amount that you are due that they just haven't told you about.

The council worker would never have managed to get away with the theft if the local authority had made it policy to automatically issue refunds, but it's patently obvious to me that the council cannot be trusted to do so, so it's incumbent on all of us all individually to satisfy ourselves that they aren't keeping money that doesn't belong to them.

You can contact ACC via: counciltax@aberdeencity.gov.uk. citing your name, date of birth address of the property, duration of residency.

I really wish they had kept their word to sort this mess out themselves, but as I said before, they clearly have no intention to.

lincroft1710

Not surprised ACC are reluctant to refund. An extra £1M is a lot for a council to find these days. Not that that's an excuse for not doing so. I am wondering if ACC still have CT payment records dating back more than 6 years as some English councils have destroyed theirs.


There is also a probability that some of those who may be owed refunds have passed on or some for whom ACC no longer have contact details 

uptdale

lincroft1710 said:

I am wondering if ACC still have CT payment records dating back more than 6 years as some English councils have destroyed theirs.

It is hard to see how a worker could be convicted of stealing CT refunds over a 17 year period if there were no records for that period.

lincroft1710

uptdale said:

lincroft1710 said:

I am wondering if ACC still have CT payment records dating back more than 6 years as some English councils have destroyed theirs.

It is hard to see how a worker could be convicted of stealing CT refunds over a 17 year period if there were no records for that period.

We do not know how far back ACC's records go or what actual records still exist. The council worker's bank account(s) may have provided the evidence. My comment was only a theory as to why they may not have been pro-active in this matter. 

It appears that after a year ACC have only identified about 25% of the accounts believed to have been affected, so unless it is a staffing problem, it suggests there may be a record keeping problem