Challenges to the legality of Council Tax
City of Lincoln Council, in line with other billing authorities, are seeing an increase in challenges about the legality of Council Tax based on misleading and false information found on the internet.
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.
Council Tax consists of precepts from Lincolnshire County Council, City of Lincoln Council, and the Police.
Liability to pay Council Tax
In England, the liability for Council Tax is decided by legislation created by a democratically elected Parliament of the United Kingdom which has received the assent of the Crown. Later 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.
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 – Kofa V Oldham MBC 2024
The High Court judgement in Kofa V Oldham MBC 2024 considered several key points that are often argued when the legality of Council Tax and its recovery is disputed.
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 discussed in the Kofa V Oldham case:
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)
Legislation
The legislation that covers Council Tax is freely available from the government website.
Local Government Finance Act 1992 (legislation.gov.uk)
The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (legislation.gov.uk)
The Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations 2011 (legislation.gov.uk)
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 about legal matters. Acts of Parliaments are Statutes which set out the law. If you have questions about other Acts of Parliament or laws, these should be directed to a legal professional, not the council.
Very occasionally we get people who are convinced that using an archaic law means they do not have to pay council tax and there are many misleading articles and templates on the internet about the legality of council tax. Anyone drawing on these for advice should exercise caution and seek proper legal advice before using them as a defence against council tax liability based on contract, consent, and common law.
While we do our best to answer all relevant enquiries about council tax, we reserve the right to refuse to respond to lengthy spurious enquiries that focus on hypothetical arguments that have no basis in statute which use our resources at the expense of other taxpayers.