Council tackles tax fraud

Hertfordshire County Council has been clamping down on residents fraudulently claiming council tax discounts and exemptions.

The council has benefitted by £1.5m after investigators found 780 properties that were incorrectly reported as empty and a further 3,171 that were in receipt of a discount for single occupancy.

The Shared Antifraud Service based at County Hall has 23 staff and manages the Hertfordshire Council Tax Framework for all district and borough councils across the County. The operation is funded by the County Council and provides a third-party managed service to review discounts claimed by residents against their council tax liability.

In 2023/2024, 8 of the 10 districts and boroughs in Hertfordshire signed up to take part in the review of properties that were in receipt of a single person discount, or which were recorded as being empty for at least six months. After the review of discounts and exemptions, new council tax bills or 'New Homes Bonus' were assessed with a total value of £3.6m.

The county council is one of four local authorities that receive funds from council tax receipts, the others being town councils, district councils and Herts Police.