Ms Forsythe said:
“There should be a target to collect 100% of rates. It’s not fair to those who do pay that others get away without paying.
Rates are the main lever the Northern Ireland Executive has to raise revenue. A great deal of effort goes into valuing homes, setting rates bills, and determining policies on reliefs. After the bills are set, taxpayers in Northern Ireland expect LPS to make every effort to collect everything that is owed to the government.
It is difficult to understand why the LPS target for rates collection would be anything other than 100%.
In 2023/24, the target was 92%. A total of 92.5% was collected, generating £1.509 billion. The LPS target was exceeded, but this still meant that over £122 million was not collected. £122.4 million of potential revenue for Northern Ireland was lost in 2023/24 and carried forward as prior year debt.
For the 2024/25 year, the target is 93% collection. If approximately £1.5 billion is collected at this target rate, it means that £105 million is expected not to be collected.
I don’t understand why LPS is not setting targets for full rates collection. Why are they starting the year with targets that acknowledge they expect to miss out on over £100 million in revenue? The idea of celebrating if the uncollected amount is slightly lower, while still leaving huge sums uncollected seems bizarre.
This is not what ratepayers in Northern Ireland deserve to hear. The hard-pressed working families and businesses who struggle to pay their rates deserve to know that LPS is aiming to collect all rates bills issued.”