FOI release

Freedom of Information Request – Business Rates Credit Balances

This request was refused in part, so we didn't provide some of the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2026/00769

Received 20 July 2026

Published 17 August 2026

Request

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning credit balances held on non-domestic rating accounts. Please provide your most recent available report of business-rates accounts that currently have a credit balance. For each account, please provide the following information where held: 1. Billing Authority property reference number; 2. VOA assessment reference number; 3. Property address; 4. Property postcode; 5. Ratepayer name, limited to incorporated companies, limited liability partnerships, public authorities, registered charities and other legal persons; 6. The amount of the credit balance; 7. The financial year or years to which the credit relates; 8. The date the credit first arose; 9. The reason for the credit, using any category or description already held within your system; 10. Whether the account remains active or has been closed; 11. Whether a refund has been requested; 12. Whether a refund has been authorised; 13. Whether the authority has attempted to contact the ratepayer; 14. Whether the balance has been written on, written off, transferred or otherwise adjusted; 15. The date of the most recent refund or credit-balance review. I do not request: - bank account details; - payment-card details; - authentication information; - security questions or answers; - personal telephone numbers; - personal email addresses; - copies of refund forms; - signatures; or - any other information that could be used to impersonate a ratepayer. Where you consider disclosure of the exact credit amount to engage section 31, please provide the remaining fields and replace the exact amount with one of the following bands: - £0.01 to £99.99; - £100 to £499.99; - £500 to £999.99; - £1,000 to £4,999.99; - £5,000 to £9,999.99; - £10,000 to £49,999.99; - £50,000 and above. If you consider that property-level disclosure would still engage section 31, please provide aggregated information showing: 1. the total number of accounts in credit; 2. the total value of all credits; 3. the number and value within each of the above bands; 4. the number and value relating to active accounts; 5. the number and value relating to closed accounts; 6. the number and value outstanding for: - less than three months; - three to twelve months; - one to three years; - three to six years; - more than six years; 7. the number and value of credits refunded during each of the previous three financial years; 8. the number and value of credits written on, written off or transferred during each of the previous three financial years. Please provide the information in CSV or Microsoft Excel format. If any information is withheld, please identify the specific exemption relied upon and explain how it applies to the particular information withheld.

Response

In accordance with section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds information falling within the scope of your request.

However, OCC is withholding the requested property and account-level information, including the proposed property-level credit bands, under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA. Section 31(1)(a) applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Disclosure under the FOIA is disclosure to the public at large. The requested information would identify individual business rates accounts which currently hold credit balances and would provide information concerning the value, age and administrative or refund status of those credits. OCC is aware of fraud and scam activity relating specifically to business rates and purported refunds. OCC publicly warns businesses about scams involving claims that business rates have been overpaid and that a refund is due.

Against that background, OCC considers that disclosure of a current list of identifiable accounts holding credits, together with information about those credits, would be likely to increase the risk of fraudulent refund claims and associated criminal activity.

OCC considers that replacing exact amounts with property-level value bands would not sufficiently reduce that risk, as the information would continue to identify particular accounts as holding current credit balances.

OCC is also withholding the more granular current aggregate breakdown by credit-value band. Several of the bands contain small numbers of accounts and provide additional current intelligence concerning the distribution and concentration of high-value credit balances. OCC considers that, when combined with other publicly available business-rates and property information, disclosure would be likely to assist attempts to target or validate potential fraudulent claims.

The Information Commissioner has upheld the application of section 31(1)(a) to comparable requests for business rates credit balance information, including in decisions FS50611353, FS50611895 and FS50671834.

OCC recognises the public interest in transparency concerning the administration of business rates and the management of credit balances. However, this must be balanced against the public interest in preventing fraud, protecting legitimate ratepayers and safeguarding public funds. Disclosure of information which increases the ability to identify or target accounts containing current credits would undermine those interests.

OCC considers that appropriate transparency can be provided through the non-identifying headline and historic aggregate information set out below. On balance, the public interest in maintaining section 31(1)(a) outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the detailed information withheld.

In accordance with section 17 of the FOIA, this constitutes a refusal notice in respect of that information.

The most recent information identified for this request records:

Total number of accounts currently in credit: 90

Total value of current credit balances: £1,129,078.31

OCC does not hold the requested breakdown between active and closed accounts.

OCC does not hold the requested breakdown according to the length of time for which the credit has been outstanding.

For the previous three financial years, OCC has identified the following combined figures:

Credits refunded: 2,172, with a total value of £32,900,521.95

Credits written on: 34, with a total value of £1,354,364.14

Credits transferred: 516, with a total value of £2,403,284.68

The information identified for this request does not provide a separate figure for credits written off or a year-by-year breakdown of the above figures.

In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, which relates to the duty to provide reasonable advice and assistance, OCC has provided non-identifying aggregate information to provide transparency concerning the overall number and value of business rates credits while withholding information which would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either email monitoringofficer@oxford.gov.uk – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Officer

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Oxford City Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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