Government extorting money by false pretences
Council tax bills cover-up exposed - Telegraph
Tens of thousands of householders could have been paying too much council tax for years in a "scandal" that ministers attempted to cover up
Ministers and officials have known since at least 2005 that many homes were placed in the wrong tax bands, with householders paying more than they should. It is claimed that the miscalculations could have affected up to 400,000 homes - and it is still not known how far back the over-payments go.
Although the errors were relatively simple and could have been corrected painlessly, ministers chose to keep the matter secret.
Whitehall documents show that the Government concealed the mistakes,....
If I did that or a company did that the full weight of the law would be down on us.