Scottish local authorities are owed almost £100m in unpaid council tax from last year, despite a steady improvement in collection rates – figures reveal.
Official data shows that while £2.076bn of council tax was billed over 2014/15, Scotland’s 32 councils had collected just £1.981bn by the end of March this year.
Collection rates have gradually increased over the past decade, with just 92.7% of the tax being collected in 2004/5 and 95.4% in the past year.
‘This may in part be due to councils’ more efficient and timely collection methods (for example, increasing use of direct debit and other ‘electronic’ methods),’ the report said.
Councils that previously had the lowest rates of collection were said to have shown ‘particularly clear’ improvement, with Glasgow City Council climbing from 85.6% in 2004/5 to 94.6% in 2014/15.
Areas with the highest collection rates included East Renfrewshire (98%), the Orkney Islands (97.8%), and Angus (97.6%).
Figures also revealed town halls were owed almost 3% of the council tax that should have been paid in 2004/5.