Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Disgust as council writes off £334k of business rates debt
‘To put this into context, we collect £76m in business rates and £55m in council tax every year’
Canterbury City Council has written off £334,000 in unpaid business rates – including a debt of £55,000 for a shop in Whitefriars.
Moda Italia had occupied unit 19 of the shopping complex, but was evicted during the last financial year after failing to keep up with rent arrears.
The firm left unpaid business rates to the city council of £55,745, while another trader was dissolved owing £39,673.
Another five firms went bust owing debts between £19,000 and £27,000.
The council insists the written off money constitutes a tiny proportion of the £76 million in council tax and £55m in business rates it receives each year.
Director of resources Tricia Marshall said: “We write-off debts when the council has done all it can to recover the money without success.
“When it comes to business rates, once a company stops trad- ing and is dissolved it is very difficult to recover our debts from them.
“The directors will claim the company has no funds or assets and we cannot go after individuals as the liability rests with the company name.
“To put this into context, we collect £76m in business rates and £55m in council tax every year, although we do not keep most of that income.
“Council tax is distributed to Kent County Council (KCC), Kent Fire and Rescue Service and Kent Police, while some of the business rates generated goes to KCC and the government.”
A debt of £12,791 was written off due to bankruptcy while another of £18,017 was considered “uneconomical to continue to pursue over an extended period of time”.
But the Canterbury Independent Traders Alliance has slammed the write-offs as “disgusting”.
Chairman Debbie Barwick has seen rates rise by 18% for her St Peter’s Street clothes store Revivals and says small firms are also bound to pay a levy to the Can- terbury Connected Business Improvement District (Bid).
“The way the council has treated smaller traders is disgrace – especially the way they hounded us over money for the Bid,” she said.
“It’s disgusting that this money is allowed to go uncollected when so many small traders dutifully pay but are still struggling.”
The debts were written off by the city council’s policy and resources committee at its meeting last Wednesday.
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