Council tax
Following the change in registration arrangements, which the Electoral Commission have imposed in preparation for the move to individual registration, the date the new electoral register is due to be published is 17 February 2014 in England and 10th March 2014 for Scotland and Wales.
This is over two months after the traditional publication date, which would normally delay our matches by an equivalent period; therefore we will be using our new secure NFI Flexible Matching Service (FMS) website for this exercise. The FMS will enable us to release your matches within a week of your data being submitted instead of having to wait for a bulk release when all councils have submitted their data.
Please see the NFI council tax timetable for 2013/14 for further details.
To find out who should supply council tax data refer to the data requirements.
Extractions
Whilst it is up to the individual body to arrange for the necessary data extract, we encourage the principle of sharing extraction routines to make the process more efficient and economical. For example, we understand that standard extract routines are being offered by all the major Council Tax (CT) system suppliers. If you would like more information about this contact your system supplier.
Requirements
- As part of our ongoing commitment to keep your data secure, in line with good practice when handling personal data, you are required to password protect each dataset once extracted from the relevant systems. If required refer to our guidance showing how to password protect data
- data should only be submitted via the Data File Upload (DFU) facility
- only current/live accounts should be extracted
- date of birth field is included, but it is accepted that this is not routinely stored as it is not mandatory for charging of CT. However, if it is captured, even as an optional field, it should be included in the extraction
- the data extracted should relate to all CT accounts, whether or not there is a discount or exemption. Therefore, this should cover every domestic property i.e. where CT is applicable
| Field | Data format | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Council Tax account reference | character | This should be unique |
| Unique property reference number (UPRN) | character | Each UPRN should be unique. All UPRNs held should be included in the submission even if this field is not fully populated. |
| Title | character | |
| Surname | character | |
| Forename | character | |
| Middle name or middle initial | character | |
| Date of birth | date | Not always held due to Data Protection issues |
| Address 1 | character | |
| Address 2 | character | |
| Address 3 | character | |
| Address 4 | character | |
| Postcode | character | |
| Title of other liable person | character | This should be blank if only one liable person and should be the second named if more than 2 liable persons |
| Surname of other liable person | character | |
| Forename of other liable person | character | |
| Middle name (initial) of other liable person | character | |
| Date of birth of other liable person | date | Not always held due to it not being mandatory – DP issues – but this will blank if there is no other liable person and should be the second named if more than 2 liable persons |
| Discount/exemption start date | date | |
| Discount/exemption expiry date | date | |
| Discount type/code | character | Please insert a flag to indicate the discount type/code* |
| Disregard type/code | character | Please insert a flag to indicate the disregard type/code* |
| Exemption type/code | character | Please insert a flag to indicate the exemption code/type * |
| Benefit recipient | character | Preferably Y/N but if otherwise specify key |
| Disabled reduction indicator | character | |
| Council Tax band | character | A to H (A to I in Wales) |
| Council Tax amount | numeric | This should be the full liability, e.g. according to the banding pre discount |
| Discount/Exemption amount | numeric | This should be the actual amount discounted/exempted rather than the amount due after discount/exemption |
| Billing address 1 | character | If applicable. This could be called a forwarding address, but if a second home discount applies this is where the address of the main residence should be recorded. |
| Billing address 2 | character | |
| Billing address 3 | character | |
| Billing address 4 | character | |
| Billing address postcode | character |
* These codes and types vary between systems so a key is required. However, we are only interested in knowing the equivalent codes/types for certain entries and so it is important for us to be able to distinguish these from the rest. Irrespective of what other codes and types mean, at the very least it must be clear as to which fields represent the following:
Discounts
- Single person: suggested field entry = SINGLE
- Second home: suggested field entry = 2NDHOME
Disregards
- Student: suggested field entry = STUDENT
Exemptions
- CLASS A: Uninhabitable
- CLASS B: Owned by charity unoccupied < 6 months
- CLASS C: Unoccupied unfurnished < 6 months
- CLASS D: Unoccupied in prison/detention under Mental Health Act
- CLASS E: Unoccupied in hosp/care home/hostel
- CLASS F: Unoccupied probate not granted
- CLASS G: Unoccupied occupation prohibited by law
- CLASS H: Unoccupied awaiting minister of religion
- CLASS I: Unoccupied receiving care
- CLASS J: Unoccupied to provide care
- CLASS K: Unoccupied owner student
- CLASS L: Unoccupied repossessed by mortgage lender
- CLASS N: All occupiers students
- CLASS O: Armed forces accommodation
- CLASS S: All occupiers under 18
- CLASS T: Unoccupied granny annex/staff flat
- CLASS U: All occupants severely mentally impaired
- CLASS V: Liable person diplomat
- CLASS W: Occupied by dependant relative