The council is responsible for paying out millions of pounds each year in housing and council tax benefit on approximately 8000 claims. These benefits are paid for from money collected from council and income tax. This means that every taxpayer is paying more for people who are claiming benefit when they shouldn't’t. Its estimated that benefit fraud costs the average taxpayer £70 a year, with a national cost in benefit fraud of over £1.5 billion!
Sometimes people do not give correct details, so get more benefit or reduce the amount of rent and council tax they pay. Fraud is committed when a person who is claiming benefit does not give their full circumstances when they first claim, or else don’t inform of any changes to their circumstances once a claim is made. It should be remembered all types of people, young and old, disabled or fit may commit fraud.
Having had to pay tax in a job before uni, and seeing how much it takes out of your wages, benefit fraud really annoys me! To know that we have to pay more than we should because of people who can't tell the truth really winds me up! People who benefit fraud are obviously attracted to the extra money, but their behavior is unreasonable and immoral. Other people have to suffer as a result, and can they really walk round with their heads hold high knowing they are a liar, and could be caught out at any moment?
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