Go paperless with your Council Tax or Business Rates bills!

Powys residents and businesses can now receive a link to their Council Tax or Business Rates bill via email, rather than through the post.

The switch is likely to be more convenient for many and will also be more environmentally friendly.

More than 47,000 residents and businesses already have a Powys County Council ‘My Account’. They just need to make sure it is linked to their Council Tax or Business Rates by adding their reference number, if they have not already done so, and then select the option to ‘go paperless’.

They will then receive a link to their bill, via email, which they can use to view or download it. They will also be able to view or download their bill by visiting their ‘My Account’ at any time.

• If you do not already have a ‘My Account’, you can register for one here: https://en.powys.gov.uk/login
• If you already have a ‘My Account’, add your Council Tax or Business Rates reference number, then answer ‘yes’ to paperless billing.
• If you have added your Council Tax or Business Rates reference number previously, you will still need to go into your ‘My Account’ and click the ‘Go paperless’ option.

Residents and businesses can also use their ‘My Account’ to view their personal information, instalment plan, change payment options, including setting up or amending a direct debit, and request refunds.

Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, Cllr Aled Davies said: “I think many of our residents and businesses will find it more convenient to receive their bills via email, but it also has the added benefit of reducing the amount of paper the council uses.

“This, of course, helps to reduce costs but it will also help to cut our carbon footprint, making us a more environmentally friendly council and county.”

These changes have been made as part of the Digital Powys project, which aims to give residents more choice about how, when and by what means they interact with the council. It is also part of the council’s Transformation Programme to deliver aspirations in is Vision 2025 corporate improvement plan.

Changes have also recently been made to the layout of the ‘My Accounts’ to make them easier to navigate on both desktop computers and smart phones. And they now include a record of any requests made by the user, while logged in, and can be used to access saved online forms.

Cllr Beverley Baynham, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Governance, said: “Our aim is to give our customers access to as much information about themselves and council services as we can, in one secure place, that they can access any time of the day or night. It is great to see that our Digital Powys work is starting to pay dividends and make a real difference to the services we offer; and popular too, with more than 47,000 now signed up to a ‘My Account’!”