Identifying £500k in additional revenue from unpaid non-domestic rates

Background

Belfast City Council estimated that the total losses from uncollected non-domestic rates were in the region of £1.5 million per year. A solution was needed to help maximise rates revenue for the city.

The solution

The COBALT Rates Revenue Tool allows councils to maximise revenue available to spend on vital public services. It uses multiple data points and advanced analytics to identify businesses not paying rates or the correct amount of rates. Through the inspector management application, it increases efficiencies, improves compliance and provides real-time reporting and analytics.

The impact

Over the duration of the project, COBALT identified £500k in additional revenue from unpaid non-domestic rates, not including backdated rates. It has also been proven to increase the efficiency of the inspector’s teams by up to 250%.

COBALT can identify:

• Properties listed as vacant by occupied
• Contact details of business owners
• Domestic properties operating as non-domestic
• New businesses that have just opened.

Speaking about Belfast City Council’s rates collection project, Northern Ireland Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: “I am committed to looking at ways to maximise the revenue available to spend on vital public services. It’s imperative that we support innovation and foster creativity as we see to find new, smarter ways of doing things”