Revd Paul Nicolson from Tax Payers Against Poverty refused to pay his council tax to put himself in the same position as people who could not afford to pay their fees.
Central government cuts introduced in 2013 to local authority budgets left many unable to pay their council tax bills after subsidies were cut.
Many councils, including Haringey Council passed this cost directly onto council tax benefit claimants. Revd Nicolson said this was unfair on the very poorest in society who could not afford to pay their council tax, and took the council to court.
During his time in court Revd Nicolson also incurred £125 in costs, added on to the council tax bill that he had not paid.
He told Premier that the costs added up for people: "Not only council tax, but the enforcement cost of council tax, the bailiffs costs of council tax.
"So if you're on that very small amount of money, £125 is an enormous and very heavy penalty."
The Revd questioned how Magistrates had ended up at the figure of £125: "The answer was described by Mrs Justice Andrews... as 'waffle' ", he said that they were unable to justify the charge.
This was named an error of law, and the judge has ruled all Magistrates should be able to justify their costs via a full breakdown of how the figure was reached.
Now anybody who cannot or does not pay their council tax is entitled to see a full breakdown of their court costs at the Magistrates.
With regards to council tax benefit auditors are reviewing the case and will have a result in the future.
