Valid charging provision required for house tax levy; retrospective validation could not sustain an ultra vires municipal impost.

The Validating Act and substituted Explanation to Section 75 did not create or revive a lawful charging provision for house tax on mills, factories and connected buildings. Rule 2(c), which had attempted levy on a floor-area basis, had already been struck down as ultra vires because the Boroughs Act permitted taxation only on the recognised basis of valuation. In the absence of a valid charging provision, the municipality lacked legal authority to levy or recover the tax, and the retrospective validating provisions could not cure an impost that was not lawfully imposed.

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Issues: Whether the Validating Act and the substituted Explanation to Section 75 of the Boroughs Act created or revived a valid charging provision so as to authorise levy and collection of house tax on mills, factories and buildings connected therewith, and whether the retrospective validating provisions could sustain the impugned levy.

Analysis: Rule 2(c), under which the levy had earlier been attempted on a floor-area basis, had already been struck down as ultra vires because the Boroughs Act permitted taxation on the recognised basis of valuation and not on the basis adopted by that rule. The Validating Act amended the Boroughs Act and substituted a new Explanation to Section 75, but it did not revive or resurrect Rule 2(c) or otherwise enact a fresh charging provision authorising the levy on mills, factories and connected buildings. Without a valid charging provision, the municipality had no authority in law to levy or recover the tax, and the validating provisions could not operate to validate what was not lawfully imposed.

Conclusion: The levy and demand of house tax on the mills, factories and buildings connected therewith could not be sustained, and the appeals failed.

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