Poll tax collection to end from 1 February, bill proposes
Collection of debts still due under the community charge, or poll tax, would end from 1 February 2015 under the Scottish Government's Community Charge Debt (Scotland) Bill, just published.
The community charge was imposed in Scotland betwen 1989 and 1993 as a levy on each individual towards local government funding. It provoked mass protests and a non-payment campaign before being withdrawn in favour of the council tax.
Local authorities however remained under a duty to try and recover revenues due, and it was reported that a number of debtors were identified when they registered to vote in the independence referendum, having opted to stay off the voters' roll in the intervening years.
Ministers have pledged to cover the cost to local authorities of the revenue that they would have expected to recover under existing arrangements. The amount actually recovered across Scotland has fallen in recent years to less than £350,000 in 2013-14.
Introducing the bill, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “It is entirely correct that at a time of record democratic engagement in Scotland, we legislate to ensure that people aren’t dissuaded from registering to vote because they fear being chased for decades-old debts."
He added: “It should be made absolutely clear that this bill relates only to the poll tax and does not affect council tax, which forms a key part of local authorities’ finances. It is quite proper for councils to use current information to assess current council tax liability. However we object to the use of the electoral registers to pursue historic debts from a defunct and discredited tax."