Axe the Tax - Revaluation Backlog Could Last Four Decades

3.14.58pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 29th Jul 2005

Forty years - that's how long it will take to clear the backlog of Council Tax valuation appeals at the current rate of progress, according to figures uncovered by the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Some 6,618 households in Wales are appealing against the revaluation of their home, which is used to calculate their council tax band from this April. While the Labour Government in Wales pressed ahead with revaluation, England has yet to suit.

Assembly leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, Mike German, said:

"The Council Tax is already unpopular, but this blockage in the appeal system is not going to make it any more popular. More than 6,000 families are appealing against a rise in their Council Tax - but only 28 have been resolved in the first two months. At this rate, it will take more than 39 years to clear the backlog!

"People increasingly resent the council tax, and fail to see the link between spiralling bills and the services they receive. More and more people support a switch to local income tax - a fairer system of tax based on ability to pay, not the value of the building you happen to live in.

"LIT also has the benefit of being easier to collect, and doesn't need painful revaluation every few years."