A Hollywood actor has lost a legal battle to avoid paying council tax on his Grade II listed London home.
Mercer Boffey - who has starred in TV shows including Ugly Betty, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and NCIS – took his case to the High Court in central London, arguing the annual charge should be scrapped for homeowners using their properties solely for domestic purposes.
The actor told a judge he had conducted extensive research on property law before buying the home in Richmond.
Mr Justice Constable said Boffey made "articulate" submissions to support his case, but ultimately concluded his argument was wrong, and granting him a court victory would also "undermine" billions of pounds raised in council tax each year.
The judge said Boffey’s home is a "charming Grade II listed detached Queen Anne house, dating from 1780, located in Petersham, an enchanting hamlet nestling idyllically between Royal Richmond Park and a picturesque sweep of the river Thames as it meanders towards the metropolitan hubbub of London and on to the sea."
Boffey and his wife bought the freehold in 2018, falling into council tax Band H in the affluent London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
The 42-year-old actor, who originally hails from New York, claimed "the absolute right in every Englishman (and it need not be clarified that this would include an American living lawfully in his English 'castle') 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. "
Boffey, a star of last year’s film Utopia, argued that if there is no "financial benefit" to a home then owners could be exempt from the annual charge. He relied on a term in the legislation, which identifies who is liable to pay the charge, and stated that he believed it may have been misapplied.
He challenged his council tax bill in April 2023 "sought the de-listing" of his property from the roll, the court heard.
When the council rejected his argument, he took it to a tribunal and ultimately ended up in the High Court.
Detailing the homeowners claim, Mr Justice Constable said: "In the course of Mr Boffey's submissions, he fairly accepted that the root of his jurisdictional complaint was, in effect, his substantive complaint that he should not be paying council tax (on a correct understanding of the statutory regime) and that as such, if he was correct, the Listing Officer did not have 'jurisdiction' over him.
"Mr Boffey contended that [his house] failed to meet the definition because he owned the property absolutely, it was only used for his family's private accommodation and he had not sought any permission to retain rents as a licensed provider of property.
"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, given that he and his family are in no different position in relation to their property to many millions of homeowners around the country."
Boffey sought to argue that his house does not meet the definition of a term known as 'hereditament', which means property which is or may become liable to a rate for council tax purposes. He claimed this is because under the General Rate Act 1967, the term implies a 'financial interest' in the property beyond mere occupation.
Council tax - a domestic property charge - was introduced in 1993, replacing Margaret Thatcher's infamous 'poll tax'.
It raises approximately £50 billion a year for local authorities.
The judge concluded: "It is simply wrong to say that a conventional dwelling - a privately-owned house or flat, occupied for the purposes of living accommodation with no element of financial reward or benefit - fell outside the scope of 'hereditament'. "
