COUNCIL TAX REBELS

Josephine Rooney, who was commended for her community work by the council in March 2006, to mark International Women's Day, faces three months in prison after refusing to pay her council tax in protest at the state of her street. She stopped payments to Derby City Council in December 2004 and owes nearly £800 but she insists she will not pay up.

Miss Rooney, who is angry at the anti-social behaviour and litter in her area, said she has been campaigning for six years to put a stop to drug-taking and fly-tipping in Hartington Street, where she has lived for 20 years. Council leader Chris Williamson said measures were already in place to tackle those problems.

Don McLure, the council's assistant director for customer services, said, "We've a statutory duty to collect council tax and we're disappointed when we have to take committal proceedings against anyone." (Source: BBC News, May/06)

Sylvia Hardy paid her taxes throughout her working life, received no benefits and has never been in trouble with the law. But 73-year-old Sylvia was jailed for refusing to pay her full council tax bill. The former social worker from Exeter is angry that her bill has soared way above the rate of inflation and is holding back £53.71 a year. She appeared before magistrates and was handed a seven day sentence for refusing to pay. Pensioners across the country are growing increasingly angry as council tax bills rise faster than increases in their pensions. One, 71-year-old clergyman Alfred Ridley, has already been sent to a Category A prison for 28 days after refusing to pay £63 of his tax.

Miss Hardy's time in prison will cost taxpayers around £700. She decided to withhold part of her council tax after seeing the bill for her £130,000 flat in Exeter rise six times higher than the annual increase in her pension. Her annual council tax bill is £708.26, which has risen 38% in the past four years, compared with a 6.8% rise in her pension. In 2005 she paid 1.7% more than the previous year's bill, in line with inflation, but has held back the rest of the increase. Miss Hardy was freed after less than two days of her jail term after the Devon Pensioners Action Forum, which supported her campaign, said someone had paid the £53.71 arrears. (Source: Mail on Sunday)

The legal situation is that non-payment of Council Tax is not a crime, or anything illegal. It is only a civil matter, and a Liability Order is not a criminal order, not would anyone in receipt of a Liability Order have a criminal record. It does not even amount to a County Court Judgement, and it is not recorded by Registry Trust, which is the Government body responsible for recording County Court Judgements. The only two licensed credit reference agencies, Experian and Equifax, have both confirmed the above, as have Registry Trust.

Not paying Council Tax is certainly not a criminal offence and the issue of a liability order at the Magistrates Court does not create a criminal record, nor even does it affect your credit rating, unlike County Court judgements, which do!

The remedies for the recovery of unpaid Council Tax are:

1) Attachment to earnings or benefits
2) Distress (seizure or goods to the value of the debt by bailiffs)
3) Insolvency proceedings (bankruptcy)
4) Putting a charge on the property or, finally,
5) Imprisonment.

Costs are incurred for the issue of the summons (£25.70 currently), more costs are incurred for the issue of the liability (£25.00 currently), more costs are incurred when bailiffs are involved (various), more costs are incurred if committal is sought or a charge is put onto the property or bankruptcy action is taken. These costs vary according to the action taken.
 
The liability order is not an order to pay. It is an order which gives the holder certain recovery tools, as have already been listed. It would be up to the Council to determine which tool to use, if that proves necessary. However, be aware that some tools are only available after taking other action, for example committal can only be requested after distraint (the use of bailiffs) has proved unsuccessful. (Source: Is It Fair)

Richard Fitzmaurice, a 75-year-old retired soldier, was jailed for not paying his council tax. Mr Fitzmaurice withheld his outstanding bill of £1,358.50 in protest of soaring bills and because he believed the local authority had used taxpayers' cash inappropriately. He will be held in Norwich Prison alongside street robbers, burglars, and other violent thugs and unlike many of them who can expect to be released on licence half way through their sentence, he must serve the full term unless the debt is paid because there is no remission for non-payment of council tax.

Mr Fitzmaurice told magistrates in King's Lynn that he had decided to take a stand because pensioners were unable to meet rising council tax costs. He said, "The council tax is unfair. It is rising faster than the rate of inflation and pensioners cannot keep up. I have never been in debt before. I have served my country, but I feel my country has let me down. I have become a second-class citizen. I agree that I have wilfully refused to pay. I've brought a spare pair of pants and my shaving things. I am quite prepared to go to prison. It's a matter of principle."

Mr Fitzmaurice said the final straw came when he learned that taxpayers had footed the £23,000 legal bill of council leader John Dobson, who was investigated and cleared over claims he extended the employment contract of a local authority employee illegally. As he was led away to the cells at King's Lynn Magistrates Court, he waved a "get out of jail free" card he had taken from a Monopoly board game. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Nov/06)