Welsh Govt council tax reform to offer ‘fairer system’
A package of reforms to council tax will address unfairness in the current system, the Welsh Government’s Minister for Finance and Local Government has said.
Rebecca Evans provided an update on the plans to the Senedd today following the proposed reforms by the Welsh Government,
The plans will include more progressive bands reflecting the latest data, regular revaluations, and a review of arrangements for discounts and reductions to ensure people are supported in the most effective way.
The changes are set to be delivered from April 2025, and more detail about what the new system will look like will be confirmed towards the end of this year.
Council tax will continue to fund services like schools and social care, but the reforms are not designed to raise any more revenue overall than is raised currently.
Burden
Speaking in the Senedd, Rebecca Evans said: “Council tax is still regressive in the way it is designed, it places a higher burden on households with lower wealth. Even now, it is twenty years out of date.
“With every year that we continue under the current arrangements comes more unfairness, carried by some of the poorest in society.
“The evidence and experts agree this is one of the most beneficial actions we can take to reduce wealth inequalities, that will be felt in the pockets of those most in need by the end of this government term.”
Council tax reform is a commitment in the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.
Plaid Cymru Designated Member Cefin Campbell said: “Together, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government are committed to reforming this outdated form of taxation to make it fairer.
“The current council tax system we have is nearly twenty years out of date, contributes to wealth inequalities and disproportionately impacts poorer areas of Wales.”
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The need for change is now!!!
Why 2025 and why April.
The people of Cymru need our government to act now to support our people and stop pandering to Westminster
“It’s 20 years out of date” and it has been “unfair” all that time!! Is there any chance of compensation for being “unfair”?
The people mainly hurt by this will be Drakefords massive public sector bloc vote and pensioners.
The poorest people in society, don’t forget, don’t pay a penny in council tax.
Property tax should be dumped and replaced with a further piece of income taxation including earnings from dividends, savings, property etc,etc. That would mean that those who have most would pay more. Introduce at the same time a tighter regime for preventing tax avoidance/evasion/mitigation and you begin to get somewhere but governments don’t go for that cos their high net worth friends start to moan and groan.
I agree with a local income tax to replace this unfair UK invented council tax system. It is not based on income and the ability to pay, but on the false market value of housing manipulated by the UK.
We should collect our own income tax and all other taxation and this must be in the power of the Welsh government to direct revenues for spending within Wales and only for Welsh interests.
Sorry to depress you, but “earnings from dividends, savings, property etc,etc.” are already taxed through HMRC Income Tax and have been for years. It might make more sense to develop wealth taxes that relate to property – the more acres/houses you own the more you pay. Certainly tightening up on the ability to ‘offshore wealth’ would be good but since the English King, Charles, does it, the chances of him signing off any new Act of Parliament on that are pretty slim. However, I see that he has signed off the new Bill that restricts our rights to hold protests… Read more »
Totally out of date totally unfair and time to scrap this tax immediately and then scrap the Welsh Assembly another out of date unfair tax on us .
You can be certain of one thing… the costs will only travel in one direction…..UP!