Write off millions of pounds of council tax debt, say Scottish Greens
The Scottish Greens have launched a bid to write off millions of pounds of council tax debt.
The party has tabled an amendment to the housing bill which would reduce the time limit for council tax arrears.
Council tax debts in Scotland are chased for four times as long as other forms of debt before being written off.
Finance spokesperson Ross Greer said: 'We need to break the decades-old cycle of poverty and debt. Scotland's system for collecting Council tax debts is far harsher than those in the rest of the UK and that needs to end.
"My proposals would give relief to people who are often in no position to pay back these decades-old debts, letting them get their lives and finances back on track.
'At the moment ,the 20-year clock resets each time someone attempts to pay off or even acknowledge their debt, meaning some councils are still chasing debts from when this system started in 1993. That's before I was even born.
'And the fear of having bailiffs at the door means vulnerable people aren't going to their councils for help when they really need it.
' Council tax debt is one of the biggest drivers of Scotland's public debt crisis, locking thousands of vulnerable people into cycles of poverty which they can't break out of.
'If we want to end poverty for good and make Scotland a better place to live, we have to end the systems that keep people stuck in cycles of unpayable debts. It is time to wipe out these decades-old Council Tax debts.'
Data from March showed that almost £2 billion of council tax arrears have been racked up by Scottish households since the Council Tax system was introduced in 1993.
The current limit for Scottish council tax debt is 20 years, despite English, Welsh and Northern Irish arrears being written off after just six years.
The 20 year clock also resets every time someone acknowledges or tries to pay off their debts.
The Greens say this effectively means debts are held and pursued permanently, even when there is no prospect of them being paid off.
Most other forms of debt in Scotland are subject to a five year cut-off for collection efforts.
If passed, this proposal would effectively cancel any Council Tax debts built up before 2020.
Analysis by the Scottish Greens suggests that the move would take hundreds of millions of pounds of debt off of the shoulders of low-income and vulnerable households.
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
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