Information Relating to Council Tax Payments
Case reference FOI2022/01089
Published 25 August 2022
Request
Q1. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council derive its authority to impose a tax [mandatory or otherwise] if it is a private corporation operating in commerce?
Q2. Confirm the registered VAT number for Herefordshire County Council.
Q3. On what basis is Herefordshire County Council accessing, processing, and storing specific personal data and information about the inhabitants if it is a private corporation operating in commerce?
Q4. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is a "legal requirement"?
Q5. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is "mandatory"?
Q6. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is a "mandatory obligation"?
Q7. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe "liable" is mandatory?
Q8. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe it is able to enforce a liability?
Q9. Does Herefordshire County Council have evidence for power of attorney over living men and women and/or the legal-fiction(s) to whom it addresses for Council Tax demands?
Q10. Does Herefordshire County Council have evidence for any compulsory obligation on the inhabitants to pay Herefordshire County Council for Council Tax?
Q11. Is Herefordshire County Council able to confirm it is compliant with Article 22 of GDPR (transparency for automated decisions) in relation to Council Tax and if it is a decision based solely on automated processing, please explain how the amount of council tax calculated is, a fair, just, and reasonable, voluntary contribution to actual council services rendered.
Q12. Please provide the actual full profit and loss accounting in respect to all the following:
a) All pension funds and ALL investments using the proceeds of Council Tax.
b) Enforcing tax liabilities and charges including court charges minus appeals and damages incurred.
c) Enforcing evictions for non-payment of tax/arrears upon the local community.
Response
Q1. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council derive its authority to impose a tax [mandatory or otherwise] if it is a private corporation operating in commerce?
A. Herefordshire Council is not a private corporation operating in commerce.
Q2. Confirm the registered VAT number for Herefordshire County Council.
A. 701204013
Q3. On what basis is Herefordshire County Council accessing, processing, and storing specific personal data and information about the inhabitants if it is a private corporation operating in commerce?
A. Herefordshire Council is not a private corporation operating in commerce.
Q4. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is a "legal requirement"?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q5. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is "mandatory"?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q6. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe taxation is a "mandatory obligation"?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q7. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe "liable" is mandatory?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q8. On what basis does Herefordshire County Council believe it is able to enforce a liability?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q9. Does Herefordshire County Council have evidence for power of attorney over living men and women and/or the legal-fiction(s) to whom it addresses for Council Tax demands?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q10. Does Herefordshire County Council have evidence for any compulsory obligation on the inhabitants to pay Herefordshire County Council for Council Tax?
A. Herefordshire Council is obliged to collect Council Tax by virtue of relevant legislation, namely -
Local Government Finance Act, 1992
Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations, 1992
All other statutory instruments linked with the above.
Q11. Is Herefordshire County Council able to confirm it is compliant with Article 22 of GDPR (transparency for automated decisions) in relation to Council Tax and if it is a decision based solely on automated processing, please explain how the amount of council tax calculated is, a fair, just, and reasonable, voluntary contribution to actual council services rendered.
A. Herefordshire Council is compliant with Article 22 of GDPR; whilst there is an automated process in place for the issuing of reminders, finals and summons, no profiling takes place as it is a process which simply looks to see whether payments have been made in accordance with the law and issues a notice accordingly. No personal data is used in the automation process.
Q12. Please provide the actual full profit and loss accounting in respect to all the following:
a) All pension funds and ALL investments using the proceeds of Council Tax.
A. Herefordshire Council's budget is funded by a combination of Council Tax, local Business Rates, central government grants and charging for some council services, with council tax funding 31.5% in 2022/23. Herefordshire Council does not invest in pension funds; these are managed by Worcestershire County Council. Herefordshire Council received interest on short-term investments of £108k in 2021/22. The short-term investments represent income received in advance of expenditure (e.g. receipt of central government grant funding in advance of spend in response to Covid-19). Herefordshire Council invests funds prudently and has regard to the security and liquidity of its investments before seeking the highest rate of return as set out in its annual Treasury Management Strategy.
b) Enforcing tax liabilities and charges including court charges minus appeals and damages incurred.
A. This information is not held. However, income and expenditure from Council Tax is described on the Herefordshire Council website on the following pages which I trust is useful:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council-tax-1/council-tax
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council-tax-1/council-tax/2
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council-tax-1/council-tax/3
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/23619/your-council-tax-explained-2022-23
c) Enforcing evictions for non-payment of tax/arrears upon the local community.
A. Herefordshire Council does not enforce evictions with regards to Council Tax.
Documents
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