Council tax fraud is when a person deliberately gives incorrect or misleading information in order to pay less or no council tax.
Council tax fraud could be when a person claims to live in a single-person household when more than one person lives there, or they might claim to be a student when they are not. Contact Action Fraud for support and guidance about council tax fraud.
Council tax rebate scams
Fraudsters phone victims telling them that they are calling to let them know that they have been placed in the wrong council tax bracket and that they are entitled to a rebate.
How to protect yourself:
- Never respond to unsolicited phone calls
- Your local council won’t ever phone out-of-the-blue to discuss a council tax rebate, if you receive a call of this nature, put the phone down straight away.
- No legitimate organisation will ask you to pay an advanced fee in order receive money; so never give them your card details.
- If you think you have been a victim of fraud, hang up the phone and wait five minutes to clear the line as fraudsters sometimes keep the line open. Then call your bank or card issuer to report the fraud. Where it is possible use a different phone line to make the phone call.
See also:
Non-domestic rate fraud
Benefit fraud
Patient charge evasion