What LAW requires us to pay council tax

Jamie Dee made this Freedom of Information request to Cornwall Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

Dear Cornwall Council,

Could you please provide written evidence of THE LAW that requires
flesh and blood human beings to pay council tax?

I have investigated www.opsi.gov.uk/ and various other websites to
find as much information as I can regarding council tax laws, but
can only find information on the STATUTES or ACTS that apply to the
PERSON or LEGAL FICTION, I cannot find a LAW that is applicable to
HUMAN BEINGS being justifiably taxed by a council or local
authority

I understand that, by legal definition, statutes and acts are
defined as legislated rules of a SOCIETY which have been given the
force of law, but in themselves are NOT LAW, and;

A society is defined as a number of people joined BY MUTUAL CONSENT
to deliberate, determine and act for a common goal.

So in essence the STATUTES only apply to those who give consent
i.e., are a willing member of the society.

I am looking for the LAW that applies to those human beings that
have not mutually consented or have withdrawn their consent from a
particular society, i.e., those humans beings that are no longer
subject to the rules of that society.

So please provide evidence of the LAW (not the statute) which
states that all humans (NOT PERSONS) are obliged to pay council tax
(including humans who are not willing consenting members of
society).

Please note, that if your response includes the word PERSON,
PERSONS OR INDIVIDUAL, you have failed to answer my request, as
persons are not flesh and blood humans, they are LEGAL FICTIONS and
the term INDIVIDUAL is defined as meaning a PERSON which is also
legal fiction NOT a human being , man or woman. Also, please do not
direct me to ACTS, STATUES, or LEGISLATIONS as these do not apply
to a Human being of flesh and blood who is in possession of an
Immortal Soul. So please take care when providing a suitable
response, I wish to know what LAW (not statute or act) obliges me,
a woman, or HOMO SAPIEN to pay council tax.

Please provide also, a copy of the LAW which states a council may
prosecute a human being of flesh and blood for Council Tax Arrears
in ordered to recover what they term a debt.

I require a written copy of the procedure used by the Council to
validate the information used to establish the arrears, i.e., if
LOSS as defined as under COMMON LAW JURISDICTION is the
justification for prosecution of a flesh and blood human, man or
woman, can the council provide written evidence for that LOSS with
full financial records and accounting to back up that debt, along
with contracts committing both parties showing equal consideration,
acceptance and signatures, when requested?
What process do they, the councils, use to distinguish between a
human being of flesh and blood and a PERSON for such purposes of
threatening prosecution?

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Dee

Cornwall Council

Dear  Dee 

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  

Your reference number is: 918550. 

Please make a note of this number should you wish to make any further
enquiries.  

The Council will respond to you within twenty working days of the day
after we received your request.  

Kind regards

Customer Services
Cornwall Council
Tel: 0300 1234 161
[1][email address]
[2]http://www.cornwall.gov.uk
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Dear Cornwall Council,

why is this overdue

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Dee

Endean Rachel, Cornwall Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Dee

 

Please find attached a letter formally enclosing the Council’s response to
your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If
you have difficulty in opening the attachment(s), please contact me and I
will send you a copy by post.

 

I sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to your Freedom of
Information request, this is due to the Council having to seek Legal
advice.

 

Kind regards,

 

Rachel Endean

Personal Assistant to Shared Services Senior Leadership Team (Income,
Assessment and Operational Support)

Cornwall Council

Room C2.12

Carrick House

Pydar Street

Truro, Cornwall

TR1 1EB

01872 224300

[1][email address]

[2]www.cornwall.gov.uk

 

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Dear Endean Rachel,

This doesnt answer the question, in fact its a non answer, please would you refer this back to them and let me know who they sought legal advice from?

Yours sincerely,

Jamie Dee

Endean Rachel, Cornwall Council

Dear Freedom of Information Team

Please see below response from Mr Dee in relation to an IAR-918550 who would like an internal review.

Kind regards,

Rachel Endean
Personal Assistant to Shared Services Senior Leadership Team (Income, Assessment and Operational Support)
Cornwall Council
Room C2.12
Carrick House
Pydar Street
Truro, Cornwall
TR1 1EB
01872 224300
[email address]
www.cornwall.gov.uk

Please let us know if you need any particular assistance from us, such as facilities to help with mobility, vision or hearing, or information in a different format.

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show quoted sections

Becky Bbear left an annotation ()

Jamie - Anyone who is a citizen/legal resident of the UK, falling within the Government set income/age ranges for taxation is required to pay tax.

The fiction that under 'common law' an individual can declare themeselves not subject to 'Statute Law' has no effect on their legal obligations under those Laws.

The only 'solution' therefore is for an individual to no longer be a citizen subject to that legislation - something that can quite easily be done simply by either declaring themself a 'Stateless Person' or by surrendering their UK Citizenship in favour of citizenship of another State (assuming that other State is willing to grant them Citizenship).

Of course these courses of action both require the individual concerned to give up any existing entitlement to Health Benefits, Social Benefits, Passport, or other 'State' benefits associated with being a UK citizen.

There may also be implications relating to continued use of a UK National Insurence Number. Employment and personal banking (since employers generally require an employees NI Mumber to make salary payments and themselves comply with tax requirements).

In context - this means rather more than simply claiming 'Dual Nationality' and seems not for some reason to be a solution favoured/practiced, or indeed discussed, by followers of the 'Freeman on the Land' school of thought.

Possibly this is because they wish to retain those benefits, even though they feel unobliged to comply with the associated responsibilities/obligations of UK citizenship.

Unusually, particularly where Road Tax is concerned, followers of this school of thought also do not seem to offer any comment on the implications of driving un-taxed vehicles (which by definition could not be insured or MOT tested) if involved in accidents where a third-party was killed or injured.

While Freedom of Information requests relating to this school of thought do in a number of cases of course fall within current UK 'Statute' - there is some debate within the WDTK community as to whether such requests, together with those of a broader 'because I can' nature - could in fact be damaging to the 'spirit' and future of the FOIA and provide Government with a reason to review that legislation negatively - or indeed remove it entirely.

Most 'regular' users of this site will be aware of and have taken the time to read its current moderation policy.

It is likely that, at some point, this policy will be extended to reject/remove requests which are assessed by the site moderators/administrators as either purely 'vexatious' - or outside the 'spirit' of the Freedom of Information Act.

Obviously it is in the long-term interests of everyone to encoursge transparancy and free and reasonable access to information held by Government and its various Agencies/Bodies.

It is by extention not unreasonable for users of this site to consider those long-term interests when using its facilities within current legislation.

The rights or wrongs of particular beliefs are not matters for this site - a wide range of other forums exist for that purpose.

A little thought about possible long-term consequences is not however a lot to ask of users.

Becky

Dear Cornwall Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Cornwall Council's handling of my FOI request 'What LAW requires us to pay council tax'.

I havent had an answer to this

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/wh...

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Dee

Becky Bbear left an annotation ()

Jamie - The Local Government Finance Act 1992 came into effect in 1993 and is the 'underpinning' legislation requiring the occupiers of taxable residential properties in the UK to pay Council Tax.

The law makes no distinction between who (or what) 'ocupiers' of such properties may be, in terms of the 'Freeman on the Land' school of thought - only that if they occupy a taxable residential property, that they are required to pay.

The authority's response confirms that and the only practical alternatives would seem to be living in a non-taxable residence, or becoming a non-UK tax-payer.

The truly dedicated researcher may care to consider the provisions of the 'Occupiers Liability Act 1984' - dealing with the liabilities of occupiers for deaths/injuries to visitors/guests occurring in their place of residence.

Makes for interesting reading, taken alongside the Council Tax legislation and the definition of 'occupier'.

Becky

Freedom Of Information Mail, Cornwall Council

Dear Mr Dee

Thank you for your email requesting an internal review of the response
provided to your FOI request, reference number 918550. The Council has
20 working days to provide a response from receipt of the request and
therefore you can expect our response on or before 14 March 2011. The
request has been passed to the relevant department and is being worked
on.

Your complaint reference number is 972799, and please quote this in any
future communication.

Regards

David Foy
Policy Support Officer

Communications and Strategy
Chief Executive's Department
Cornwall Council

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Freedom Of Information Mail, Cornwall Council

Dear Mr Dee

 

Following your request for a review of your Freedom of Information request
(918550) regarding the law that requires human beings to pay council tax,
I can confirm that this has now been carried out by an independent senior
officer (Roger Gates, Senior Support Officer – Performance).

 

The officer’s comments and findings were as follows:-

 

“Having now reviewed the correspondence file associated with this
particular Freedom of Information request and conducted an interview with
Rachel Endean (Personal Assistant), I am satisfied that this request was
dealt with correctly and within the appropriate procedures, in particular:

 

- Legal advice was sought from the Council’s Legal Team, as part of this
particular FOI request which stated that under The Council Tax
(Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992, the law on Council Tax
levies a tax on property that the owner or tenant of the property is
liable to pay.  This advice formed the basis for the response from Shared
Services (Income)

 

I am therefore satisfied that this request was dealt with appropriately”

 

 

I trust that this fully answers your request.  However, if this does not
resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you have the right to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner, the contact details of whom are:

FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Email: [1][email address]

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

David Foy

 

 

David Foy

Policy Support Officer

 

Freedom of Information

Chief Executive’s Department

Cornwall Council

[2][Cornwall Council request email]

 

Room 239, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3AY

[3]www.cornwall.gov.uk

 

Please let us know if you need any particular assistance from us, such as
facilities to help with mobility, vision or hearing, or information in a
different format.

Please consider the environment.  Do you really need to print this email?

 

This e-mail and attachments are intended for above named only and may be
confidential. If they have come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone; please e-mail us
immediately at [email address].

Please note that this e-mail may be subject to recording and/or monitoring
in accordance with the relevant legislation and may need to be disclosed
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004.

Security Warning: It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that
this e-mail and any attachments are virus free. The Authority will not
accept liability for any damage caused by a virus.

 

References

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mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Cornwall Council request email]
3. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/

Jamie Dee left an annotation ()

Lol I wonder who pays this officers wages that reviewed my request independently?

S. Jones left an annotation ()

Lol! Wastes officer's time by requesting an internal review and then complains that he's paid a wage!

What I have never seen is an explanation from people who claim not to be bound by statutes as to why they apply under the Freedom of Information ACT. They clearly believe in statutes when they want to benefit from them. What would they do if the information officer replied, "I am a flesh and blood person and I do not consent to replying to this pointless question"?