Major Welsh council tax reform off until 2028
A big shake up in council tax has been postponed until 2028, after the next Senedd election.
The Welsh government has been considering reforms that could change the council tax bills for hundreds of thousands of households - and had intended to introduce as early as next year.
Homes were being revalued for the first time in 20 years and new property bands could be created.
But a consultation launched last November asked whether the changes should be phased in more slowly.
The next Senedd election is due in May 2026.
The government said it was still committed to “making council tax fairer and more up-to-date”, but economists who advised them said the delay was “disappointing”.
Established in the early 1990s, council tax has long been criticised for being unfair because it is based on property prices - not on people's ability to pay.
The Labour Welsh government and Plaid Cymru - who have a co-operation deal in the Welsh Parliament - have been looking at ways to try to address that.
Ministers asked for a revaluation of properties, which have increased in value significantly since the last exercise in 2003.
There were also proposals to create new tax bands that would have increased bills for the most expensive properties and cut them for people in lower value homes.
In a written statement, Labour's Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said she had “listened carefully” to a consultation which found support for introducing the changes more slowly.
Any “structural reforms” will start in 2028, but other changes could happen earlier, she said.
She added: “I believe this approach demonstrates a continuing commitment to fair and progressive taxation, as well as this Welsh Government’s commitment to listening to the people of Wales.”
The government’s consultation relied on work by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) which analysed possible changes.
IFS senior economist Stuart Adam said: “The decision to postpone the planned revaluation and reform of council tax in Wales until 2028 – fully 23 years after the last revaluation – is disappointing.
“A revaluation is already long overdue, and there is no obvious economic or administrative need for, or benefit from, delay.
“But entrenching the date of the revaluation in primary legislation is welcome: we can only hope it makes it less likely to be further delayed or cancelled when the time comes.”
