Freeman on the Land and challenges to the legality of 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.

You do not have a choice as to whether you are liable for council tax and being a 'freeman' does not exempt anyone from paying council tax.

In the UK, liability for council tax is determined by the Local Government Finance Act 1992. This statute, created by a democratically elected Parliament of the United Kingdom which has received the assent of the Crown and subsequent statutory regulations, sets 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.

In extreme cases this could even lead to committal proceedings, or even a prison sentence, as in the Manchester Magistrates' court vs McKenzie (2015) case, where an individual who attempted to use similar 'freeman on the land' defences in court ended up in prison for 40 days. 

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.

Council Tax legislation

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

• Local Government Finance Act 1992
• Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
• Council Tax (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations 2011

Recent High Court case

A High Court case has effectively resolved the arguments around no contract/consent to pay Council Tax and the requirement for the issue of written Liability Orders/Court Orders.

In summary, 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 Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 do not require a written court-issued Liability Order. The Leighton v Bristow and Sutor case refers to extracts from a 'court list' paired with a signature certifying the number of Liability Orders made and this satisfies the High Court to conclude Liability Orders have indeed been made.

The full transcript is available on Kofa, R (On the Application Of) v Oldham Metropolitan Bolton Council [2024] EWHC 685 (Admin) (27 March 2024).

Further information

We have been asked whether Acts and Statutes are an obligation on residents, 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.

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

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.

Common freeman questions (PDF, 87 KB)