Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 09:20 am, by: Adam Lonergan(Alchemistal)
Found this article whilst browsing today.
THE SCOTSMAN Sat 26 Aug 2006
Council tax rebel's giveaway beats bailiffs BILLY YOUNGSON
A HOMEOWNER who refuses to pay a council tax bill has thwarted attempts to seize his property by getting rid of all his valuable possessions.
John Radley, 60, is refusing to pay a £400 bill for backdated council tax, which cropped up when his home was revalued. A court order was granted and Sheriff Officers arrived at his home to take away his possessions to cover the debt.
But the freelance TV producer had sold his luxury Lexus car to his son and transferred everything else he owned of any worth to his company.
Mr Radley said: "It was a matter of principle - and I think I got one up on them.
But I don't think I've won. The council will keep coming back."
The row began in 1998 - almost two years after he moved into his cottage at Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire. He had been told his council tax would be at band D rates. But 19 months later he received a letter telling him it had been revalued and was in band F.
The change was blamed on an extension the previous owners had built seven years before Mr Radley moved in.
He was happy to start paying the new rate, but fought back when the council tried to backdate it. They hit him with a £335 bill, which has risen to £400, but he has refused to pay.
The row came to a head last month when Stonehaven Sheriff Court gave the green light for bailiffs to step in and Mr Radley sold his Lexus Soarer to son Derren, 28. Then he transferred £4,500 of possessions, including stereos and DVD players, to his company. When sheriff's officers swooped there was next to nothing for them to take. Items such as his sofa were seen as too old to be worth taking.
They were set to take a dishwasher, microwave, some bookcases and a dining table and chairs - valued at £200.
But Mr Radley decided to stump up cash to save the possessions. However, the £200 he handed over only covered the Bailiff's fees and he's back at square one.
Mr Radley said: "It's like they have used a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. I've got absolutely nothing more for them to take. I don't know why they don't give up."
The next step for the council would be to arrest Mr Radley's wages. But he feels he can thwart that - as owner of his own firm he will not agree to stop paying himself.
Grampian Valuation Joint Board said the back payments were legal and resulted from changes at Land Registers Scotland.
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 11:10 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Good on him, sounds like theft to me...
"Ahh, you owe us money because we made a mistake... please pay us for screwing up."
Typical bureaucrats. Here in West Auckland our rates are set to rise by around 6.5% per year for the next 10 years! This despite predicted inflation being less than 1/3 of this figure. Right now I pay around $1,400 in local body rates, in 10 years that will have blown out to over $2,500 per year, and that doesn't include regional rates. And West Auckland got of lightly!
The ARC's excuse for all of this? Successive councils allowing large amounts of in-full housing, overtaxing already antiquated and poorly maintained infrastructure, meaning huge projects now have to be undertaken to bring things up to scratch (which of course won't be done anyway, the money will just dissappear on other things)
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