The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Joint and several liability: enforcement

54.—(1) This regulation has effect with respect to the application of regulations 33 to 53 to a sum for which persons are jointly and severally liable under Part V.

(2) In this regulation, “joint taxpayers” means two or more individuals who are jointly and severally liable to pay an amount in respect of council tax.

(3) A final notice served in accordance with regulation 33 on every person against whom the application for a liability order is to be made may be addressed to two or more joint taxpayers in joint names.

(4) A liability order may be made against one or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount for which they are jointly and severally liable.

(5) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers, subject to paragraph (6)—

(a) an attachment of allowances order or an attachment of earnings order may be made against one of them, or different such orders may be made against more than one;

(b) a distress may be made against one or more of them; and

(c) a charging order may be made against one of them, or against more than one jointly, or different such orders may be made against more than one of them (as the circumstances require).

(6) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount, steps by way of any method specified in paragraph (5)—

(a) may not be taken in respect of one of them while steps by way of that or another of those methods are being taken in respect of another of them; and

(b) may be taken in respect of one of them notwithstanding that no steps by way of that or another of those methods have been taken in respect of another of them.

(7) Where a distress has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount a warrant of commitment may, subject to paragraph (8), be applied for at any time against one of them or different warrants may be applied for against more than one of them: but no such application may be made in respect of any of them who has not attained the age of 18 years.

(8) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount, a warrant of commitment may not be applied for unless—

(a) distress has been made against all of them; and

(b) the person making the distress reports to the authority that, in relation to each of them, he was unable (for whatever reason) to find any or sufficient goods.

(9) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount, and a warrant of commitment is issued against (or a term of imprisonment is fixed in the case of) one of them under regulation 47(3), no steps, or no further steps, may be taken against any of them by way of attachment of allowances or earnings, distress, bankruptcy or charging in relation to the amount mentioned in regulation 47(4).

(10) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount and in making distress against one of them goods jointly owned by both or all of them are found, distress may be levied against those goods with respect to that amount; but in any subsequent proceedings under regulation 47 (commitment), charges arising under Schedule 5 from such a distress shall be treated as charges relating to the person against whose goods the levy was intended to be made when the joint goods were found, and not as charges relating to the other or others.

(11) Where a liability order has been made against two or more joint taxpayers in respect of an amount, paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 5 shall have effect so that if a charge has arisen against one of them under head B of the Table in paragraph 1 of that Schedule as regards a levy in respect of it, no further charge may be aggregated for the purposes of regulation 45(2) under heads A or B in consequence of any subsequent levy or attempted levy against any of them in respect of that amount; and if a charge has arisen under head A against one of them, it shall be treated as a charge under that head with respect to the others as well as that one for the purposes of the calculation of any subsequent charge under heads A or B against any of them.