An actor from the US has failed to persuade the High Court that English council tax is illegal, after a judge pointed out the ‘stark consequences’ for the lawfulness of past revenue raised if he succeeded.

Mercer Boffey - an actor and producer - had been paying council tax at Band H on his ‘charming’ Grade II listed detached house in Petersham since he bought the property in 2018.

In Mercer Boffey v Lucy Dyer the High Court heard Boffey challenged his liability to pay, arguing his home ‘fails to meet the definition of "hereditament" for council tax purposes’ because he owned the property absolutely, it was used only for his family’s private accommodation and he had not sought any permission to retain rents as a licenced provider of property.  

Mercer Boffey

Boffey emphasised ‘the absolute right in every Englishman….is that of property'

Source: Getty Images

Mr Justice Constable, deciding the application, said: ‘If Mr Boffey was right, of course, it would have rather stark consequences for the lawfulness of many billions of pounds raised by local authorities under successive governments for over three decades.’

Appearing in court, Boffey emphasised ‘the absolute right in every Englishman….is that of property: which consists in the free use, enjoyment and disposal of all his acquisitions, without any control or diminution, save only by the laws of the land.’

The judge remarked: 'The question before this court does not, of course, even begin to tug at this absolute right: the question is, rather, what on a proper construction of the statutory regime for council tax are “the laws of this land”.'

Boffey argued his home was not a ‘dwelling’ for the purposes of section 3(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. The actor contended his argument was a novel one, but the judge pointed out it was ‘the very same conclusion as that contended for, and rejected’ by Mr Justice Fordham in Doyle v Roberts (Listing Officer) [2021] EWHC 659.

In that judgment, the judge found: ‘A unit of property used wholly for the purposes of living accommodation attracts council tax by reference to that use…. It is true of a flat or house which is rented from a private landlord. But it is also true of such a flat or house with an owner-occupier. They can all be hereditaments.’

Mr Justice Constable said he had ‘no hesitation’ in ruling Doyle was correctly decided and dismissed the judicial review.

 

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