‘The High Court has overturned a bankruptcy order made against a woman who owed Aylesbury Vale District Council £8,067 in council tax arrears.’
Local Government Lawyer, August 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The unlawful imprisonment of people for council tax non-payment “is likely to be one of the largest mass miscarriages of justice in British history”, the chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Angela Rafferty QC, and 57 other signatories of a letter to The Guardian have claimed.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th March 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The High Court has admitted up to 17 people in England and Wales were unlawfully sent to jail for not paying their council tax last year – but it refused to accept this constituted “systematic failings” by the courts.’
The Independent, 17th January 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Being in debt is not a crime. So why are nearly 100 people a year sent to prison for falling behind on council tax payments?’
Legal Voice, 19th December 2017
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
‘The Valuation Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by a student accommodation provider over the application of council tax exemptions to student flats.’
Local Government Lawyer, 25th October 2017
Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A self-proclaimed ‘Freeman-on-the-Land’ who refused to pay council tax citing ancient laws has been sentenced to 40 days in prison and ordered to repay his debt.’
Local Government Lawyer, 12th May 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has refused to grant Leeds City Council permission to appeal a key ruling over whether landlords are responsible for paying council tax on a property when a tenant has moved out before the tenancy agreement has formally ended.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th March 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has released a woman jailed for failing to pay council tax, saying she should not have been imprisoned.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th January 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In R (Woolcock) v Bridgend MC (2017) EWHC 34 (Admin) Lewis J quashed a suspended committal order, pursuant to Regulation 47 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, because no proper means assessment had been carried out and the suspension period was manifestly excessive.’
Local Government Law, 23rd January 2017
‘There is an exceedingly long line of case law, stretching back beyond the days of the community charge (which was of course better known as the Poll Tax). In those cases, the courts have traditionally quashed custodial orders improperly imposed by magistrates for non-payment of council taxes.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd January 2017
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A single mother who was sent to prison by magistrates for 81 days because she was unable to pay her council tax bill was unlawfully jailed, the high court has ruled.’
The Guardian, 18th January 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Leeds City Council is to seek permission from the Supreme Court to appeal a key ruling over whether landlords are responsible for paying council tax on a property when a tenant has moved out before the tenancy agreement has formally ended.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th January 2017
source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘This was Leeds’ second appeal of a Valuation Tribunal decision on council tax liability. We covered the first High Court appeal here. Full disclosure, I acted for the intervener in this second appeal, the Residential Landlords Association, with Justin Bates (or as it turns out, Bate) as counsel.’
Nearly Legal, 8th December 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘We’ve seen the issue of who is liable for Council Tax when a tenant has left a property before the end of a periodic tenancy arise before. Here, the Upper Tribunal decided that a statutory periodic monthly tenancy following a 6 month fixed term did not amount to a ‘material interest’ of over six months such that the tenant would remain liable for Council Tax, while here in the Shropshire decision (and amusingly featuring NL) the Valuation Tribunal decided that a contractual periodic tenancy following on from a fixed term of 6 months did amount to a material interest such that the tenant remained liable.’
Nearly legal, 1st August 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Retired clergyman Paul Nicolson, who is refusing to pay council tax in solidarity with those hit by benefit cuts, explains why he’s happy to take the consequences.’
The Guardian, 8th June 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has expressed concern at “the substantial degree of uncertainty that exists” in relation to how the courts, both magistrates and the bankruptcy county court, should deal with the enforcement of domestic council tax liability orders in the context of the availability of the remedy by way of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.’
Local Government Lawyer, 19th April 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Council tax – how do you go about setting aside and/or appealing a council tax liability order? It turns out to be far from straightforward (you might already have known this. I didn’t!). In Okon v London Borough Of Lewisham [2016] EWHC 864 (Ch) – quite astonishingly, an appeal against a making of a bankruptcy order – Mr. Robin Hollington QC addressed the issue. The bankruptcy petition was founded on a number of council tax liability orders and the efforts of Ms Okon to set aside those orders were at issue.’
Nearly Legal, 19th April 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘April 2016 is a month of big changes for people living and working in the UK. A number of new laws and policies are coming into force, affecting just about everyone from public sector workers to dog owners. Here’s what the new laws could mean for you.’
The Independent, 3rd April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Coll (Listing Officer) v Mooney [2016] EWHC 485 (Admin) is a statutory appeal by the Appellant Listing Officer against the decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England (“VTE”) in which it ordered the Listing Officer to alter the valuation list to show one entry for a property, instead of two. The property was built as one dwelling, on three floors. However, at some point, the property was converted into two dwellings. It was listed as two separate units of property (hereditaments) when the valuation list for council tax was drawn up in 1993.’
Local Government Law, 22nd March 2016
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