Clients seen by Citizens Advice Scotland in 2019 owed a total of £6.9 million.
Shock figures have revealed the extent of Council Tax debt in Scotland.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) said clients seen by its advisors in 2019 owed a total of £6.9 million to their local authorities after falling behind in payments.
The average amount of debt was £3,102 – nearly three times the average annual Council Tax bill.
Now, CAS is urging Scots to take advantage of a new two-week campaign to find out if they are entitled to exemptions, reductions or discounts to the tax they pay.
The campaign, Council Tax: Check to Save, also highlights the support available to those struggling to meet payments or in debt.
Myles Fitt, CAS financial health spokesperson, said Council Tax is the number one debt issue that people bring to the charity.
“The campaign we are launching today is all about helping people who find themselves in Council Tax debt or who are struggling to pay their Council Tax bill,” he added.
“Across the country, most councils are set to increase Council Tax rates. We think local authorities should be do everything they can to ensure more people access these savings to help those least able to pay higher Council Tax bills.”
The campaign comes as Scottish Government figures showed the number of people claiming Council Tax Reduction (CTR) has fallen by over 80,000 since the new system was introduced in 2013.
“We fear that lots of families are missing out on savings they are entitled to,” said Mr Fitt.
“Those eligible for exemptions, reductions or discounts include people on low incomes, students and people with disabilities. The money for these changes comes from central government, so saving on your Council Tax doesn’t take away from local services.
“The Citizens Advice network offers free advice and a simple online tool which helps you see if you are entitled to money off your Council Tax. We want more people to access these entitlements and cut their bills as a result, so over the next two weeks we will be out and about across Scotland urging people to Check to Save, and get the advice they need at their local bureau.”
Edinburgh-based CAS staff member Catherine Henry has first-hand experience of a family member missing out on a Council Tax exemption.
She explained: “A few weeks ago my colleagues were developing the tool and asked a group of us in the office to help them test it. I decided to enter in my Dad’s details, as I know he already has some Council Tax exemptions due to his long-term illness (MS), so I thought it would be good to see if the tool confirmed that.
“What actually happened was that the tool pointed out that he was in fact entitled to a full exemption, so he has been wrongly paying Council Tax for nine years. When we took this information to the Council, they agreed to exempt him going forward and to repay his Council tax payments since 2011 in full. All we needed was a doctor’s signature confirming his condition.
“That experience just makes me really keen to get the message out there to people: try this thing out. You’ve got nothing to lose, and you could have hundreds or even thousands to gain.”
