Council Tax

1. The purpose for which we use your personal data

The information we collect about you will be used for the purpose of the administration and collection of Council Tax, and when you apply for them, assessing eligibility for discounts and exemptions.

The legal basis for the processing is to comply with our legal obligations under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

You are obliged by law to let us know of any changes that might affect your liability to pay Council Tax. Penalties can be imposed for failing to:

• notify the Council within 21 days, without reasonable excuse, on any matter which affects entitlement to a Council Tax discount
• notify the Council within 21 days, without reasonable excuse, on any matter which affects entitlement to a Council Tax exemption
• supply us with the relevant information we request within 21 days in order to establish Council Tax liability
• supply relevant information we ask for after the Court issues a Liability Order. Failing to provide this information could lead to a criminal prosecution and a fine

We process information on prosecutions and convictions for reasons of substantial public interest, also on the basis of the above legislation.

2. What type of information do we use?

We may collect the following types of personal data about you to deliver this service, depending on your circumstances:

• Name
• Address
• Gender
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Bank/payment details
• Your family composition
• Your financial circumstances
• Employment and education details
• Information about your health

We collect and use information about your health because it is necessary for the purpose of exercising functions under the legislation referred to above. 

3. Do we use information received from other sources?

To provide this service, we collect information directly from you but also receive information from the following sources:

• Valuation Office
• HM Land Registry
• Private Letting Agencies
• The Council’s Housing Services division
• Enforcement Agencies
• Electoral Registration
• Registrars
• Adult social services
• Children’s social services
• HM Revenue & Customs

The following types of personal data may be obtained, depending on your circumstances:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Unique reference number
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Bank/payment details
• Your family composition
• Your financial circumstances
• Employment and education details
• Copies of identity documents
• Information about your health

4. Transferring your information abroad

We use Microsoft Office 365 to process our electronic documents under the terms of a strict agreement, which safeguards your information This personal data is hosted on servers outside the UK, but only in EU countries which are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation.

We don’t transfer any other information about you outside of the UK.

5. Who has access to your information?

We share your personal data only when there is a need for us to do so. When we share information, we provide the minimum necessary in each case to the following recipients:

• The Council’s Housing Services division
• National Fraud Initiative
• The Council’s Fraud Investigation service
• The Council’s Electoral Services to assist with registering voters
• The Council’s Parking Services
• Enforcement Agents
• Building Control & Planning Services, Animal Health, our Environment department and Consumer & Business Affairs, when these services need to establish the names of occupiers of properties
• Pensions and Payroll, when you choose to pay Council Tax from your salary or pension
• HM Revenue & Customs
• HM Courts and Tribunals service
• We take part in a data sharing project commissioned by the Welsh Government and share your information with the company carrying out this work (Policy in Practice).
• We provide personal data to an external company called Datatank. They collate information for our Housing Services to assess the impact that Universal Credit has on tenants, so that the Council can provide the correct support.

We also share personal data with the Office of National Statistics for research purposes, under their legal powers to obtain information from the Council.

There are other specific situations where we may be required to disclose information about you, such as:

• Where the Council is required to provide the information by law
• Where disclosing the information is required to prevent or detect a crime
• Where disclosure is in the vital interests of the person concerned

6. How long we will keep your information

We will keep your information for as long as you are liable for Council Tax and 7 years from the end of the year your liability ceases. This is in accordance with the Council’s Retention Guidelines.

7. Your Data Protection rights

You have the right to:

• Obtain access to the personal data that Carmarthenshire Council is processing about you
• Have any inaccurate or incomplete information rectified (corrected)
• Withdraw your consent to processing, where this is the only basis for the processing
• Make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the independent body in the UK which protects information rights

In some circumstances, you may have the right to:

• Object to the processing of your personal information
• The erasure of your personal data
• Restrict the processing of your personal information
• Data portability

8. Contact details

For more information regarding this privacy notice and your rights, please contact:

Data Protection Officer
Carmarthenshire County Council
County Hall
Carmarthen
SA31 1JP

Email: dataprotection@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office along with further guidance on Data Protection legislation can be found on the ICO website .