Freeman on the Land

Council Tax and Freeman on the Land

The Freeman on the Land movement and similar groups, commonly believe that they are bound only by statute laws they consent to.

Being a ‘freeman’ does not exempt any person from paying Council Tax. Council Tax is not optional and not something you consent to.If you are liable to pay Council Tax, you must make your payments.

The liability to pay Council Tax falls under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and later regulations. This is a statute created by a democratically elected Parliament of the United Kingdom which has received the assent of the Crown.

For more information see: Local Government Finance Act 1992 (legislation.gov.uk)

Liability to pay Council Tax is set by The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. This gives local authorities the right to demand Council Tax which is used to fund essential local services.

For more information see: The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (legislation.gov.uk)

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.

Freeman on the land arguments have been considered and ruled against by the courts and anyone who withholds payment, will have recovery action taken against them. Should the Council need to take recovery action additional costs will be added to amount owed.

Very occasionally we get people who are convinced 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 using them as a defence against council tax liability based on contract, consent and common law.

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.

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. This includes letters and notices served on the council’s chief executive with the same misleading reasoning.

Common questions or requests about the legality of Council Tax

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 signatures

Some residents consider that Council Tax is a contract and requires a legal contract and signatures indicating an agreement. As already explained, Council Tax is a creature of statute, and a contract is not required. 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

The hierarchy of who is considered to be the liable party is contained in Section 6 of The Local Government Finance Act 1992 . 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

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.

Provide confirmation the debt exists lawfully

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.

Provide documents containing a wet ink signature

As covered above, a signature is not necessary for the billing of Council Tax and no wet ink signature is mandatory on a court summons either. Previous case law has clarified that the use of a rubber stamp or electronic signature are both valid for the purpose of the court signing a summons.

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

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

Please send us your VAT details/provide a VAT invoice

It should be noted, Council Tax is deemed outside the scope of VAT and we are unable to provide a VAT invoice.

Please state whether you are a company or a corporation

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is a local authority within the public sector and does not have a company number.

Provide a true bill that complies with the Bills of exchanges Act 1882

We follow legislation according to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.

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 Neath Port Talbot Council have not followed the correct process and apply for your liability order to be set aside.

Please provide evidence that you have my consent to hold my data

Under Regulation 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018, we do not require your consent to process data that is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of the controller’s official function conferred by an enactment or rule of law.

Is the summons legal as it wasn’t issued by the court?

The summons is issued by the Magistrates Court, when the application (complaint) is approved and endorsed by the court’s Legal Advisor and the council informed of the outcome.

The summons may then be printed by the complainant, and this is the normal custom in relation to all summonses. It is the responsibility of the person applying for a summons to serve it on the respondent and Rule 99 of the Magistrates Court Rules 1981 sets out how that may be done, which includes by post.

There is no agreement between the courts and Local Authorities to do this, as it is the legal duty of the Local Authority. Therefore, the summons is issued by the court, but printed on their behalf, and posted by the Local Authority.

I want a copy of the liability order

The granting of a Liability Order is a legal process and not an actual document, as such, it cannot be evidenced in the form of a document. We produce Liability Order Notices to inform the debtor, but this is not a legal requirement.