Thousands chased for unpaid poll tax after registering to vote in independence referendum
ByClaire Warrender
Some councils are using the surge in voter registration for the referendum to chase historic arrears.
Thousands of people who registered to vote in the independence referendum are now being chased for unpaid poll tax dating back over 20 years.
Many local authorities are taking advantage of the high registration levels to claw back historic arrears.
Some councils are even trawling through old records to trace unpaid poll tax.
Hundreds of people across Scotland came off the electoral register to avoid paying the unpopular charge but record numbers re-registered to have their say on Scotland’s future on September 18.
Angus, Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh City councils have confirmed they are using the new data to uncover fraudsters and recover debts.
They are also comparing the updated database against households that receive the 25% single person discount for council tax in a bid to uncover people who are not entitled to it.
For more on this story see Wednesday’s Courier.
Thousands chased for unpaid poll tax after registering to vote in independence referendum
