Chance to win six tax-free months (From Witney Gazette)

Chance to win six tax-free months

3:53pm Monday 19th February 2007 in Witney By Tim Hughes

HOUSEHOLDERS in West Oxfordshire are being given the chance to win an average of six months' free council tax, in a free prize draw.

s=8The prize is worth £625 - the equivalent of six months' council tax for a Band D property.

The draw is being organised by West Oxfordshire District Council to encourage more people to pay their council tax by direct debit.

The council is writing to every household in the district, inviting people to enter the draw by filling out a detachable slip and returning it to the council by no later than February 28.

Households that already pay by direct debit can also take part. Other households will have the chance to enter if they sign up to pay by direct debit.

Two winners, one existing and one new direct debit-payer, will be picked at random to get £625 each off their council tax. The prizes have been donated by HSBC bank, and will apply from April 1, when the new council tax bill comes into force.

Two second prize winners will receive three months' free membership at Carterton, Chipping Norton, or Witney's Windrush leisure centres. The prizes have been donated by Wycombe Leisure, which runs the centres on the council's behalf.

Sixty-three per cent of West Oxfordshire's 42,000 households already pay by direct debit, and Frank Wilson, the council's director of resources, said he hoped the prize draw would highlight the convenience of this payment method and inform people of its cost effectiveness.

He said: "Paying by direct debit can really make a difference. The administration savings on direct debit payments, compared with other methods, are £6 per account, per year. If everyone in the district changed to paying by direct debit, we'd save £90,000 this year."

The council reminded householders that the payment date for council tax will change from the 14th to the 1st of the month, from April 1.

Direct debit payment instructions are being sent out with the letters to households who do not already pay in that way. People can also go to www.westoxon.gov.uk, or send an e-mail to local.taxation@westoxon.gov.uk, or call 01993 861040 for a form.