Data share pilot between HMRC and local authorities
18 September 2019
In 2019, 29 councils agreed to share data with HMRC about Council Tax debt. HMRC, as the joint data controller to these agreements, has published the business cases and Data Protection Impact Assessments for these pilots under a Freedom of Information request.
The Council Tax debt data usage agreement between HMRC and local authorities is available to read, and you can find data for all the local authorities who are participating in the pilot.
The purpose of the pilot is to measure the potential yield the local authorities could have if they were to use HMRC data for an Attachment of Earnings Order and to test whether debts can be managed and recovered using HMRC data. Alternatively, the pilot will confirm what data items are most effective for obtaining accurate address information for those customers who have a Council Tax Debt.
A sample of up to 4,000 records will be collected and used from each of the councils. They will have debts from multiple years and whilst selected at random will fall into one of ten categories, chosen as likely to produce the best opportunities for matching against HMRC records as well as recovering significant levels of income.
Permission to use data in this way is included in the Digital Economy Act 2017 and is being published in line with the Code of Practice for transparency included in that legislation.
Related CIPP news
Council tax pilot to recover debts direct from workers’ wages - 25 July 2019
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