Previously it has run television campaigns to encourage people to file their tax returns on time and to collect their tax credits.

Instead, from 2020 it will pass the buck to councils, which will collect the tax and have the power to alter rates.

If the government can not accurately define ownership boundaries and ascertain the proper owners, it can not know from whom to collect the tax.

Generally, the states allow (or require) the seller to itemize and collect the tax from their customers at the time of purchase.

Although the latter also frequently employed private companies to collect their tax quotas, it was in their own interests to curb extortion.