Challenges to the legality of Council Tax

Common questions and additional information

Your liability to pay Council Tax

What is Council Tax?

Council Tax is not a direct charge for individual services provided or received.

It is a Statutory Tax levied on occupiers (and some owners) of dwellings within the council's area. Council Tax is paid into a collection fund to enable the council to provide essential services to the community or help those in need.

Each year Full Council must approve the budget and set the Council Tax. This is after a period of open public consultation where residents can have their say on where funds should be spent.

You can view the council budget for this year and previous years.

You can also view details of the 'preceptors', which are the police, fire service and town or parish councils who receive funding from the Council Tax collection.

The percentages of the Council Tax that goes to the preceptors is shown on your bill.

Liability to pay Council Tax

You do not have a choice as to whether you are liable for Council Tax. The Freeman on the Land movement and similar groups commonly believe that people are only bound by the contracts and laws they have consented to. However, contract law and alleged rights under common law are not the same as legislation relating to the administration and collection of council tax.

In the UK, liability for Council Tax is determined by legislation created by a democratically elected Parliament of the United Kingdom which has received the assent of the Crown. Subsequent statutory regulations set out a local authority’s rights to demand Council Tax to fund services and who is liable to pay.

Your liability for Council Tax is not dependent on, and does not require, your consent or the existence of a contractual relationship with the Council. Any such assertion to the contrary is incorrect and there is no legal basis upon which to make this argument. Under UK GDPR, we rely on processing your personal data for the purposes of the collection of council tax under Article 6 (e) – ‘public task’.

Anyone who withholds payment will have recovery action taken against them.

If you have any concerns over the charging of Council Tax please seek proper legal advice, rather than relying on internet sources or forum statements which may be incorrect or misleading.

High Court Decision

The High Court judgement in Kofa V Oldham MBC 2024 considered several key points that are often argued by people trying to dispute the legality of Council Tax and its recovery.

The Honourable Mr Justice Fordham has clearly confirmed the legality of Council Tax and the recovery of unpaid Council Tax through obtaining and enforcing liability orders.

Incorrect arguments:

I have not given my express consent to be charged/billed; common law states consent is required for laws; for constitutional reasons Parliament is unable to create law; it goes against Human Rights or is incompatible with the Bill of Rights and other constitutional statutes (this is refuted in paragraph 15 to 17)
Produce a “court-issued” liability order; there should be an individual entry in the court record (this is refuted in paragraph 18 to 23 and paragraph 29)

Acts, statutes and legislation

Some residents have asked whether Acts and Statutes are an obligation on them, and about the difference between a Statute and Law, and other similar questions regarding legal matters.

Acts of Parliaments are Statutes which set out the law. Acts and statutes are also referred to as legislation.

If you have questions regarding Acts of Parliament or laws, these should be directed to a legal professional, not the council.

Further information can be found on legislation.gov.uk.

How to correctly challenge or appeal your Council Tax bill

Details of how to challenge your Council Tax bill or band are available on our website.

Very occasionally we get people who believe that using an archaic law means they don’t have to pay Council Tax and there are many misleading articles and templates on the internet regarding the legality of Council Tax.

Anyone drawing on these for advice should exercise caution and seek proper legal advice before attempting to use them as a defence against Council Tax liability based on contract, consent or common law.

If your challenge relates to the principles of Council Tax legislation and administration, then Judicial Review is there to give the public the chance to challenge the council’s use of its administrative powers.

Recent challenges have confirmed the legality of Council Tax and can be viewed online. Requests for information about Council Tax

A request for information which would not identify a living individual will usually be a freedom of information request (FOI).An FOI relates only to information the council already holds. Questions about legislation and laws and whether the council is bound by them do not constitute an FOI. We do not have to create or conduct new research to answer an FOI.

If you want details of what information about you the council holds you can make a Subject Access Request. Such a request should not be an attempt to stop or delay paying Council Tax, instigate a dispute about Council Tax or its applicability to you or complain about or dispute a Liability Order.

While we do our best to answer all relevant enquiries about Council Tax, we reserve the right to refuse to respond to requests that appear to be:

a challenge to Council Tax, as legitimate appeals have a specific process
enquiries that focus on ancient legislation and/or hypothetical arguments which do not appear to have any legal basis

Replying to these enquiries would use our resources at the expense of other taxpayers.

Such requests may be treated as unreasonable and/or vexatious and could be refused either under the appropriate sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or using the exemptions in the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.

You can find out how to request information here

Common questions and additional information

The council has a statutory duty to bill and collect Council Tax, but this does not mean it introduces a fiduciary relationship (a situation in which one person justifiably places confidence and trust in someone else and seeks that person's help or advice in some matter).

Here are the most common questions or requests we receive about the legality of Council Tax:

Provide an autographed lawful contract with you, with both of our/my signature(s)

Council Tax is not collected or due under a contract, it is a tax collected by the council as a public authority under the legislation already referred to. Therefore, any reference to the Companies Act, Contracts Act, Bills of Exchange Act or other acts regarding companies or contracts is irrelevant.

A variation of this question is ‘Please provide evidence that I’ve agreed with you that you can lawfully collect an alleged debt from me.’ Again, this is inconsequential, as there hasn’t been an exchange of contracts or agreement. Neither is required for the levy and recovery of Council Tax.

Provide evidence that I am lawfully obliged to pay Council Tax

Council tax was brought into law by the Local Government Finance Act 1992. There are multiple pieces of legislation which make up council tax law which are available online.

The legislation that covers Council Tax is freely available from the government website legislation.gov.uk, including:

If your property is in the Council Tax list maintained by the Valuation Office Agency and you are liable for the property, then you will be responsible for the payment of the Council Tax on the property.

The hierarchy of who is considered to be the liable party is contained in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 c14 Part 1, Chapter 1, Sections 6-9. Individual agreement of this is not necessary.

Provide evidence that you have the lawful and contractual authority to use the legal fictional name of “XXX” for the purposes of making money

The Local Government Finance Act 1992 provided that billing authorities are to bill and collect Council Tax.

Provide confirmation the debt exists lawfully

The issue of a Council Tax Demand Notice (the bill) confirms the amount of Council Tax that you are due to pay and gives the instalment dates and amounts due.

Your liability for Council Tax is not dependent on, and does not require, consent or the existence of a contractual relationship with the council.

Provide documents containing a wet ink signature

A signature is not necessary for the billing of Council Tax.

Summonses are issued by the Council with the permission of the Magistrates Court. They no longer require any signature to be applied to them. Further information can be found in The Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2019.

I’m a Freeman on the Land and am not liable

Being a Freeman on the Land does not mean someone can choose which laws they adhere to and which to ignore. The legislation relating to Council Tax will still apply to you. Case law confirms that this is not a valid reason to not pay Council Tax – Manchester Magistrates’ Court Vs McKenzie (2015).

Provide a true bill that complies with the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. Issue an invoice under contract/commercial debt/VAT legislation.

The issuing and format of Council Tax bills, known as demand notices within legislation, is specified by The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and The Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations 2011 as amended.

Council Tax is not a charge for specific services to an individual but a tax which helps local authorities pay for the services they provide for the community. As such VAT is not applicable.

Provide proof that you have acted correctly when issuing a summons and obtaining a Liability Order and have not acted in place of the Court

Recovery procedures relating to non-payment of council tax can be found in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

When payment is not made as billed on the demand notice, recovery notices are issued by the Council. Prior to issue of a summons, the Council provides a complaint list of debtors to the Clerk of to the Magistrates Court and requests permission to issue summons and begin the process of obtaining a Liability Order. Once the Clerk has confirmed agreement to issue, by signing the Council complaint application, summonses are issued to cases where there is still a debt outstanding.

The summons itself contains the court date, time and address of the hearing. The summons asks you to contact the Council if you have any reason to believe that the outstanding balance is incorrect. This is so that we can look at your account and make any necessary adjustments. It also allows us to try to make a payment arrangement so that further recovery action is not required.

Liability Order hearings are heard before Magistrates appointed by His Majesties Court and Tribunals Service or a District Judge. They are not members of the Council and act independently.

The Liability Order hearing is known as a “bulk hearing” as the Magistrates are presented with a list containing all the names of the debtors, addresses, and balances outstanding, that the council wishes a Liability Order and costs to be granted for.

You may appear in Court to dispute that you owe the debt and request that a Liability Order is not granted. If you do not appear, the application will be made in your absence.

Although many council tax cases may be listed for one hearing , each person on the list is a separate case and the Magistrates can decide not to award individual Liability Orders or individual costs.

Obtaining the Liability Order allows the council to continue with further recovery action to recover the unpaid council tax under the legislation.

If a liability order is granted without my presence, consent and opportunity to bring all of the above to the attention of those concerned and involved I will have no choice but to seek lawful advice with regards to proceeding with a claim for fraud against those involved

If you have a dispute regarding the granting of a Liability Order against you then you need to take this up with the Magistrates Court. You will need to explain why you feel the Council has not followed the correct process and apply for the Liability Order to be set aside.

Where a liability order was granted, I require a copy of the liability order

The granting of a Liability Order is a legal process and is not a document in itself. The council notifies everyone who has a Liability Order made against them in accordance with the legislation.

State whether you are a company or a corporation. I have a DUNS number for the Council

The Council is a local authority within the Public Sector and does not have a company number.

Companies House is the Government body that maintains company information within the UK. Any references given to the Council by third party companies based overseas who use their own references for their own credit purposes are not indicative that the council is a company.

A Local Authority/Billing Authority is a corporate body in the sense of being an organisation with legal rights and duties, or body corporate as used within legalese speak. This does not make it a company.

Prove that Council Tax is not used to fund terrorism

Council Tax pays for local services and does not go to Central Government. All information regarding what Council Tax is spent on is available on our website.

Liens/false invoices and claims of harassment

There is nothing within legislation which allows a person to serve a notice of charge or invoice on a Local Authority, or on an employee of a Local Authority, for carrying out the statutory legal obligations conferred on it. Such notices are not accepted as valid and payable and will not be responded to or acted upon.

The Council is legally obliged to issue you with demand notices, and then with recovery notices if payments are not made. These are required to allow the Council to then proceed with obtaining Liability Orders which allow further powers to collect unpaid council tax. While individuals may understandably prefer not to receive communications about unpaid council tax, this required contact does not constitute harassment.

Please evidence where I have given my consent authorising the Council to hold and process my data

The council does not require consent to process personal data that is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in exercise of a function conferred by an enactment or rule of law. The billing and collection of Council Tax is a function conferred on the council by the legislation stated previously. Please see Article 6 (e) of the UK GDPR legislation.

Provide evidence of which companies the Council has shared personal data with

The council will share details of liability orders with debt collection agents in order to recover monies owed to it. Personal data may also be shared to detect or prevent fraud.

I only accept legitimate communication through a recognised official service that needs to be sent following universal postal union convention rules. I do not accept any other forms of communications. This includes bailiff action, using private organisations, hand delivered or electronic notices

You should not ignore Council Tax communications as the Council will take legal action to recover unpaid Council Tax