§ Mr. Paice:To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures are taken to ensure that members of the traveller community occupying unauthorised sites pay council tax. [143923]
§ Mr. Raynsford:Council tax liability is based upon the identification of a "chargeable dwelling". Unauthorised sites are generally too transient to establish that a dwelling exists for the purposes of council tax. If, however, a caravan remains on private land for a period of at least six months, the listing officer may include an entry in the valuation list for council tax purposes. Council tax will then be collected by billing authority, based on the band in the list, by using their normal recovery procedures.
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