Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the latest Council Tax Collection Statistics which provides figures for Scottish local authorities up to and including the financial year 2021-22.
In 2021-22 for Scotland as a whole, the total amount of Council Tax billed (after Council Tax Reduction) was £2.723 billion. Of this total, £2.607 billion, or 95.7 per cent, was collected by 31 March 2022. This provisional in-year collection rate is higher than the figure for the previous year (94.8 per cent). Last year's figure was impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as Councils suspended debt recovery process and actions to avoid contributing to financial pressure on Council Tax payers.
Provisional in-year Council Tax collection rates for 2021-22 ranged from 92.8 per cent to 97.7 per cent across the 32 local authorities.
In-year collection rates have improved steadily since 1998-99 and had levelled off at around 96.0 per cent which reflects improvements in the collection of Council Tax in the billing year. The 2020-21 collection rate was lower, at 94.8 per cent, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the 2021-22 rate of 95.7 per cent is more in line with pre-pandemic collection rates.