Liability, legislation and general information about Council Tax

Council Tax pays for the services in your area. With this, the Council 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.

Council tax is collected by North Norfolk District Council on behalf of NNDC, Norfolk County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Town and Parish Councils.

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:

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

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• ancient, historic or outdated legislation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

You have the right to appeal if one of the following applies:

• you feel you should not be liable for Council Tax
• you think your property should be exempt
• the amount charged is incorrect 
• any Council Tax support is miscalculated 
• a penalty has been applied incorrectly

That right to appeal and the process is set out in the legislation.

How to appeal

Any appeal should initially be made in writing to the Revenues team. You must explain what you are appealing against and give reasons why and we will consider your appeal.

Write to us:

Revenues Team
North Norfolk District Council
Holt Road
Cromer
NR27 9EN

If you remain dissatisfied, you have a further right to appeal to an independent tribunal within two months of being told of our decision. Or two months from your initial appeal if no decision is made within that time.

You also have the right to challenge your Council Tax band, providing specific criteria exist.

Withholding payment

Making an appeal does not allow you to withhold payment or part payment of Council Tax. However, any overpayment will be allowed or refunded if your appeal is successful.

Acts and statutes

Some customers have asked whether acts and statutes are an obligation on them, about the difference between a statute and law and other similar questions regarding legal matters. Acts of Parliament are statutes which set out the law. The council exists to provide essential services to residents.

If you have questions about Acts of Parliament or laws, these should be directed to a legal professional, not the council.

Requests for information about Council Tax and Business Rates

Freedom of information request

Before making a request for information, see our guide to the information we publish and follow the process of how to make a freedom of information (FOI) request.

A freedom of information request (FOI) is about data the council holds. Questions asking us if we are bound by acts and statutes do not constitute an FOI.

If you have a question about liability, follow the appeal process above. 

We will direct you to seek independent professional legal advice if you question whether you are bound by UK law. 

Our responsibility to charge and recover Council Tax

The council is responsible for charging and recovering Council Tax, but this does not mean it introduces a fiduciary relationship.

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. 

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 the Local Government Finance Act 1992 c14 Part 1, Chapter 1, Sections 6 -9. 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.

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

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

Please state if you are a company or a corporation

North Norfolk District Council is a local authority within the public sector and is not a company or a corporation.