A Council Tax liability order is not a County Court Judgment

A council tax liability order is made by a magistrates' court under the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. It is not a County Court Judgment and should not be described as one.

Regulation 35 expressly provides that a liability order is enforceable under Part VI of the Council Tax Regulations and is not to be treated as a sum adjudged to be paid by an order of a magistrates' court for the purposes of Part III of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980.^[1]

The liability order nevertheless gives the council substantial statutory enforcement powers. Depending on the circumstances, these include attachment of earnings, prescribed benefit deductions, taking control of goods, insolvency remedies, charging orders and, in the final resort and subject to strict safeguards, committal proceedings.^[2]

The fact that the order is not a CCJ does not make it optional and does not cancel the debt. Equally, a bailiff should not misstate the order as a County Court Judgment in order to frighten a debtor into payment.

Separate proceedings taken later can have their own consequences. For example, insolvency or property proceedings are distinct legal processes. Always identify the actual order and enforcement route rather than assuming every court-related debt is a CCJ.

If you need proof of what the council is enforcing, ask the council for the liability-order date, magistrates' court, account period and amount, together with the enforcement instruction. A council tax bailiff ordinarily acts under the statutory liability-order enforcement regime, not under a county court warrant of control.

^{[1] Regulation 35(3) of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
[2] Part VI of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992}