Privacy notice - Business rates

Wiltshire Council is the data controller for the personal information you provide in order to establish your liability for council tax, non-domestic rates or any sundry or miscellaneous income due to the council.

For the purposes of Revenue Administration at Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Council is the data  controller.  Initial contact may be made by phone on 0300 456 0109, in person or, in writing at County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN or via e-mail to counciltax@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

Our DPO may be contacted as above or via e-mail at InformationGovernance@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

In order to collect council tax, non-domestic rates and sundry debts Wiltshire Council Revenues and Benefits Service holds information about you in its capacity as data controller for the proper handling of matters relating to the administration and collection of income due.  This includes the need to process your data to contact you and calculate and issue accurate bills. The council will process your personal information for the following purposes:

• to create and maintain accounts and records
• administering the billing and collection of taxes and other revenue including benefits, discounts, exemptions and grants
• data matching under local and national fraud initiatives
• carrying out surveys
• promoting the services we provide

All employees and subsidiaries who may have access to your personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of your personal data.

The legal basis for our use of your personal data is:

• To ensure compliance with a legal obligation to which the Council is subject, in the case of council tax and non-domestic rates, this includes the gathering and maintenance of information in order to comply with the Local Government Finance Acts of 1988 and 1992 and Miscellaneous Income provisions and any subsequent legislation supporting those Acts.

Where necessary and lawful, or when required by legal obligation, we may share information within the council, but we will not share your data with any other third party except where required to carry out duties and functions as a local authority and are required or permitted by law to do so.

We may share your information with:

• debt collection and tracing agencies
• local and central government
• ombudsman and regulatory authorities
• courts and tribunals
• police forces
• housing associations and landlords
• customs and excise
• courts, prisons
• legal representatives, defence solicitors
• law enforcement and prosecuting authorities
• service providers
• survey and research organisations

Wiltshire Council will process your personal data for the above purposes for no longer than necessary. Retention periods have been determined for different categories of information. The information processed for the above purposes will be kept for six years from the date of the last recording about you.

Your rights are set out in the Data Protection legislation and include:

• The right to access your personal information, to request rectification or erasure of certain personal information and to object to processing in certain circumstances.
• The right to withdraw any consent you may have given to process your personal information
• The right to complain to the Information Commissioner (opens new window) if you feel we are processing your personal information unlawfully.
• The right to restrict processing activity in certain circumstances.
• The right to object to certain types of processing activity

For further information about how Wiltshire Council uses your personal data, including your rights as a data subject, please see the Council's privacy notice section on our website.

The information you are giving us is not a statutory or contractual requirement; or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.  You are however obliged to provide information to ensure the accuracy of any bill the council may issue.  In our role of tax collection the council is exempt therefore from some of the Articles set out in Section 8 above where it would prejudice the actions of the council and prevent the assessment or collection of tax if necessary information was not provided.

Wiltshire Council does not use automated decision making in respect to your personal information. We will provide you with an explanation of the decision-making criteria and significance or likely consequences of such data processing.