Council Tax
Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,
1) Please provide me with a copy of legislation proving that we have contracted/consented to pay council tax.
2) Please provide me with a copy of legislation that proves that I am 'obligated' to pay council tax.
The Local Government Finance Act 1992 evidences NO mandatory obligation to make payments towards council tax. All acts require consent to be given. Acts are merely rules and regulations.
The Council is under a legal obligation to prove that I we are under an 'obligation' to comply with the council’s commands, as detailed in section 34(6) of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.
Incidentally there are NO liability orders, (they were abolished in 2003, and nothing has been instituted in their place).
Yours faithfully,
David Phillips
Dear Mr Phillips,
Please see enclosed response to your FOIA/EIR request. We trust that we
have answered your queries, however if you have any further
questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you are unhappy with the response to your request, you may ask for an
internal review within 40 working days of receipt of this response. Please
contact Jeff Wring - Service Director - Commercial and Governance, at
Lewis House, Manvers St, Bath BA1 1JG or by email to:
[1][email address].
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. [2]www.ico.org.uk
Please refer to the disclaimer regarding reuse which can be found on the
Council website at:
[3]http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/your-...
Yours sincerely,
Information Governance Team
One West
Bath & North East Somerset Council
Email: [4][Bath and North East Somerset Council request email]
[5]www.bathnes.gov.uk
[6]www.twitter.com/bathnes
Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Bath and North East Somerset Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council Tax'.
There was no legislation in the links you provided stating we are 'OBLIGATED' to pay council tax. In law a 'Liability' isn't an 'OBLIGATION' and without an obligation there is no requirement to pay.
Please comply with my original request and provide me with evidence we are obligated to pay council tax.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
David Phillips
Dear Mr Phillips,
Thank you for your request for an internal review, a copy of which is
enclosed below. Your review request is being considered by Jeff Wring –
Service Director – Commercial and Governance.
We aim to respond to any internal review request within 20 working days.
Accordingly you will receive the full response from Mr Wring in due
course.
Yours sincerely,
Information Governance Team
One West
Bath & North East Somerset Council
Email: [1][Bath and North East Somerset Council request email]
[2]www.bathnes.gov.uk
[3]www.twitter.com/bathnes
Dear Information Governance,
I'm still awaiting your response
Yours sincerely,
David Phillips
scrupulous Landlord left an annotation ()
We are obligated to pay council tax and I will leave BANES to explain the legal position.
My concern is that if you miss a payment, BANES are required to issue you with a "final notice" before they issue with a summons for a liability order under section 33 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992...
I confirm they did not follow this procedure in my case which is the serious purpose of my requests
scrupulous Landlord left an annotation ()
I can confirm that there is an absolute rule that the public authority MUST reply within 20 working days specified in section 10 FOIA so report them to the Information Commissioner's Office without delay.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/200...
Dear Information Governance,
I have today reported Jeff Wring - Service Director to the ICO for ignoring my request for an internal review.
Yours sincerely,
David Phillips
scrupulous Landlord left an annotation ()
It will be interesting to see what happens with the ICO. You have done the right thing but it is obvious to me that BANES knows that the ICO can only make BANES conduct a 'review' and if BANES conducts a review but still fail to respond to your initial request, the ICO cannot take further action,
Dear Mr Philips,
Please find attached our internal review response to your recent information request.
Regards
Dear Jeff Wring,
Thank you for confirming there are no laws/legislations that state or prove we are 'OBLIGATED' to pay council tax. As we stated in our previous communication "in Law, without proof of obligation there isn't a requirement to pay council tax"
Yours sincerely,
David Phillips
scrupulous Landlord left an annotation ()
I believe it is significant that BANES responded to your request but not mine.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...
The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 makes it clear that we are "obligated" to pay "council tax" and I can cite other legislation which reinforces that.
The error that BANES made in my case, and perhaps in other people's cases is that section 23 of the regulations only allows BANES to demand the payment of council tax in full if you are late paying an installment. It does not allow them to ignore section 33 as they did in my case.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992...
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scrupulous Landlord left an annotation ()
We have a shared interest in Council Tax. Please contact me on my personal email address for further information