Editing Council Tax (section)

===Allocation to wrong tax band===

An edition of the current affairs programme ''[[Tonight (1999 TV programme)|Tonight with Trevor McDonald]]'' on 26 January 2007<ref>{{cite episode |url=http://www.itv.com/news/tonight_004ae25293cb8a3cc3a771af961dbcaa.html |series=Tonight |title=Council Tax Cashback |date=26 January 2007 |publisher=ITV |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307152955/http://www.itv.com/news/tonight_004ae25293cb8a3cc3a771af961dbcaa.html |archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref> investigated whether millions of homes had been placed in the wrong band in the original 1991 valuation. It was shown that the banding valuations were often done by 'second gear valuations'; in other words, valuations were often done by driving past homes and allocating bands via a cursory external valuation. The programme followed case studies of a system devised by the presenter [[Martin Lewis (financial journalist)|Martin Lewis]], published on his website in October 2006, who had received thousands back in back payments after appealing their band allocations. This "Council Tax Cashback"<ref>{{cite web |website=Money Saving Expert |title=Council Tax Rebanding |url=http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/council |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807160818/http://moneysavingexpert.com/council |archive-date=7 August 2008  }}</ref> system was said to have the potential to reach millions and received widespread publicity, likely to encourage people to challenge the system.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2007/jan/25/counciltax.business | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Millions could be eligible for council tax refund | date=25 January 2007 | access-date=7 June 2024 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124164854/https://www.theguardian.com/money/2007/jan/25/counciltax.business | archive-date=2022-01-24 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> There had been no information published on how many have been successful in obtaining a reduced banding until 22 November 2008 when the ''Daily Telegraph'', in a news article about the campaign by Martin Lewis, stated that in the past year 97,563 properties in England and Wales had been rebanded, with 69,695 of those down-graded.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3507276/Thousands-of-households-in-the-wrong-council-tax-banding-it-is-claimed.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Thousands of households in the wrong council tax banding, it is claimed | first=Ben | last=Leach | date=23 November 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205105418/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/3507276/Thousands-of-households-in-the-wrong-council-tax-banding-it-is-claimed.html | archive-date=5 February 2011 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>