Maldon District Council, along with many other Local Authorities across the country has been asked to participate in a new project with the Audit Commission which could save taxpayers thousands of pounds. This will be achieved by identifying potentially fraudulent Council Tax accounts cases where residents are falsely claiming a Single Person Discount.

The discount, which gives the occupant 25% off their Council Tax payments for the year, can be awarded to any household where the bill payer declares they are the only relevant adult occupant.

By working with the Audit Commission on the scheme (known as the National Fraud Initiative), the Council aims to identify incorrect cases by matching Council Tax data with Electoral Register data. This is intended to highlight households where it appears more than one adult is living.

The initial test exercise resulted in authorities identifying savings of around £1.4 million. Maldon District Council's data will be reading to use in March 2008.

If you have any questions about this project, please visit our Data Matching page by clicking here. Alternatively, you can send an email to the National Fraud Initiative at mailto:nfinqueries@audit-commissions.gov.uk or Maldon District Council at revenues@maldon.gov.uk.