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<p>Non-payment of council tax is not a criminal offence and cannot attract a custodial
sentence.</p><p> </p><p>Committal to prison can only ever be the last resort for non-payment
of council tax. Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure
to pay their council tax, it must have issued a “liability order” and the local authority
must have (at least) tried and failed to take control of the debtor’s goods and sell
them to recover the debt. Councils have additional powers of enforcement under a liability
order, including deduction from earnings, deduction from benefit, charging orders
on the property, and bankruptcy. If a council applies for committal to prison, the
court must inquire into the debtor’s means, and the council must satisfy the court
that there is no other effective method of collection and that failure to pay is due
to wilful refusal or culpable neglect. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely
unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison. Where that is the
case courts have the power to remit the debt.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people admitted
to prison for non-payment of council tax, covering the period 1990 – 2018, can be
viewed in Table A2.12 at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods"
target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods</a></p>
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