Enforcement
There is no court hearing as such for enforcing council tax and water debts in Scotland, it is done by summary warrant procedure.
1The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 No.1332 More detailed information on summary warrants is in
Chapter 7.
Once a summary warrant has been granted, a charge for payment must be served and expired before certain diligence can be carried out. Charge for payments expire after 14 days if the debt remains unpaid.
Diligence available to sheriff officers for the recovery of unpaid council tax is:
•arresting the client’s earnings;
•freezing and taking money from the client’s bank accounts;
•removing belongings from the client’s home and selling them;
•sequestration.
Once a charge for payment has been issued, the client can apply for a time to pay order, which will allow them to make a repayment plan. It also stops sheriff officers from taking action against the client.
A statutory moratorium may also be used to stop enforcement after the summary warrant has been issued.