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Freeman on the Land and challenges to the legality of council tax

Council tax pays for the services in your area. With this we provide essential services and helps those in need.

Our authority to charge council tax comes from the Local Government Finance Act 1992. It sets out a local authority’s rights to charge council tax to fund services and who is liable to pay.

Your liability to pay

You do not have a choice of whether you are liable for council tax, as liability is determined by statutory law.

Your liability for council tax is not dependant on and does not require your consent or the existence of a contractual relationship with the council. If you have concerns over the charging of council tax, please seek proper legal advice before withholding payments rather than relying on internet sources.

Current legislation 

The legislation that covers council tax is freely available from the government website, including:

We have provided the legislation that authorises councils to charge council tax. 

Council tax queries

We will try to answer all relevant council tax enquiries.

We will not respond to lengthy enquiries that focus on the following:

  • ancient, historic or outdated legislation
  • hypothetical arguments which do not appear to have any legal basis

These enquiries use our limited resources at the expense of other taxpayers. 

If you have concerns over the charging of your council tax, please seek reputable legal advice.

How to correctly challenge (appeal) your council tax bill

Go to appeals page

 

Relevant court cases

In the Manchester Magistrates’ Court v McKenzie (2015) case, an individual who attempted to use similar ‘freeman of the land’ defences in court ended up in prison for 40 days for wilful refusal to pay his council tax. 

In Leighton v Bristow & Sutor (2023) the High Court confirmed that extracts from a “court list” paired with confirmation from the Magistrates Court of the number of Liability Orders made led the Judge to conclude that the Liability Orders have indeed been made.  

Kofa v Oldham (2024) is a High Court case which addressed the arguments of no contract/consent given to pay council tax and the requirement for the issue of written Liability Orders/Court Orders. 

This case confirmed that laws are considered binding, made by an elected Parliament on behalf of the whole country. Therefore, no individual contract is required, and it is both “impossible and inappropriate” to gain individual consent.

The Judge went on to confirm that Magistrates Courts do not produce or serve paper orders and are not required to do so.  The only requirement is that the order is made (i.e. by the court pronouncing it is making it) and the fact that it was made can be proved, thus a paper order is unnecessary.

Frequently asked questions

Some specific queries we’ve been asked are:

Provide an autographed lawful contract with you, with both of our autographs

Some residents consider council tax a contract requiring a legal contract and signatures indicating an agreement. As mentioned above, council tax is a creature of statute, and a contract is not required. Therefore, any reference to the following is irrelevant:

  • Companies Act
  • Contracts Act
  • Bills of Exchange Act
  • other acts regarding companies or contracts 

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 contracts or agreements have not been exchanged. Neither is required for the levy and recovery of council tax. 

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.

Whether a name is legal or fictional is irrelevant for the purposes of council tax. Council tax is charged and is payable by whoever the liable party is, which is determined by reference to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and council tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. Using a fictitious name at court or failing to give a legal name when requested by a Magistrate, reserves the right for the court to deal with the case in the resident’s absence.

The issue of a council tax demand notice (the bill) creates the debt. A signature or agreement from a resident is not necessary for council tax. It is a tax, not a contract.

Being a Freeman of the Land does not mean people can choose which laws they adhere to and which to ignore.

Leicester city council is a local authority within the public sector and is not a company or a corporation.

Valid forms of payment for council tax are stated on the reverse of bills issued. Promissory notes will not be accepted and recovery action will continue if balances remain outstanding. 

Using an archaic law does not mean that council tax payment is not due or an individual is not liable to pay. There  are many misleading articles and templates on the internet regarding the legality of council tax. Anyone using these for advice should seek proper legal advice before using them as a defence against council tax liability.