Cambridgeshire County Council will need to establish a clear strategy on council tax after missing out on much-needed income in recent years, according to the Local Government Association.
The Scottish government has unveiled proposals for council tax and business rate reforms, including a realignment of rate bands, in a consultation on a new framework for tax policy.
Local authorities in England and Wales are losing close to £110m per year from business rates “loopholes” on holiday homes, according to research from property consultancy Colliers.
The failure of the London Borough of Lambeth to set a local tax rate during the 1980s directly contributed to sexual abuse in its children's homes, a critical report said.
Government figures released today show a sharp rise in business rate and council tax arrears - PF speaks to local authority finance officers about the factors behind the figures.
Government support will not cover the half-billion-pound scale of lost council tax receipts in the year following the outbreak of Covid-19 – leaving councils facing service cuts – according to sector...
The Scottish National Party has proposed scrapping business rates, council tax and property transaction duties in favour of a land value tax, to give local government greater control over its...
Scottish Government’s income tax rates are progressive, but unnecessarily complicated by taxation bands that are too similar, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Anticipated council tax losses for local authorities in England resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic are now more than a third lower initial expectations.
A permanent drop in council income streams mean the government’s pre-Covid-19 strategy for reforming local government funding is a “busted flush”, according to Rob Whiteman, CIPFA chief executive.
Covid-19 has left councils more than £1bn short of their expected council tax revenues. But what explains the wide variation among collection levels between different authorities? Kate Ogden, local...
Chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to think very carefully about the potentially damaging consequences of scrapping council tax and replacing it with a new national property tax, says Jessica Studdert...
Local government spending power will be around two percentage points lower than the 4.6% trailed by the government in the final funding settlement announced yesterday, according to a local government...
Councils expect to collect £1.3bn less council tax in 2020-21 than they forecast before Covid-19 hit, after the crisis damaged some households’ ability to pay bills, according to the Institute for...
North Yorkshire County Council is proposing a 3.5% council tax rise – below the allowed maximum – for next year, despite a forecast medium term funding gap of £18m.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering reversing historic corporation tax cuts in the March Budget and longer-term reforms to stamp duty and council tax, according to reports.
Councillors at Lincolnshire County Council have rejected the option of using the 3% increase to the adult social care precept next year which was announced during the local government settlement.
Core funding for councils in England is set to be 3% lower in real terms per head next year than in 2015-2016, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Councils in England will receive an additional £3bn to cover Covid-19 expenditure over the next year, alongside a lifting of social care precept for council tax, the government has confirmed.
Around 80% of county and unitary authorities are expected to make cuts next year in order to set a balanced budget, according to a survey from the County Councils Network.
Business rate income for local authorities halved in the first quarter, while council tax income stayed steady, according to the first official figures on the impact of Covid-19 on council income.
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has hinted that the government could introduce council tax and business rate reimbursement schemes to help local authorities deal with the financial...
Ministers have been called to temporarily relax the borrowing rules for local authorities to cover-day-day spending, according to a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
Ralph Sangster, cabinet member for Resources and Performance at Hertfordshire County Council tells PF how the authority is coping with the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and what it...
