Council Tax collection rates: April 2024 to March 2025
Information on amounts collected, arrears and amounts written off for April 2024 to March 2025.
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In this page
Introduction
Council tax is a tax on domestic property set by local authorities to raise money to provide local services. It is calculated based on the council tax band assigned to each dwelling in each local authority which are each assigned to one of nine valuation bands: A to I.
Council tax is the main source of locally raised income for local authorities. It is the source of funding used to meet the shortfall between the amount an authority wishes to spend and the amount it receives from other sources.
This statistical release analyses the amount of council tax that Welsh local authorities collected in the 2024-25 financial year.
This report only deals with financial years, for example, April 2024 to March 2025. These will be displayed as 2024-25.
The data are provided on the Council tax collection (CTC) returns submitted by all 22 county councils.
Detailed information over time and at a local authority level is published in the associated data tables (MS Excel) and on the StatsWales website (Collection).
Main points
In 2024-25, billing authorities collected 95.6% of council tax billed, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points.
6 authorities recorded a year-on-year increase in their collection rate in 2024-25 and 16 recorded a decrease.
Neath Port Talbot recorded the highest in-year collection rate at 97.7% whilst Gwynedd recorded the lowest at 92.9%.
The amount collected in respect of 2024-25 bills, excluding council tax reduction scheme, was £2,228 million out of £2,332 million collectable.
During 2024-25, billing authorities collected £50 million of arrears and wrote off £9.2 million as uncollectable.
The total amount outstanding at 31 March 2025 was £263 million, of which £103 million was in-year arrears.
Collection rates and collection of arrears were impacted mainly due to issues collecting council tax premiums and property transfers from the non-domestic rates system.
Collection rates
The in-year collection rate is the amount of council tax collected by 31 March shown as a percentage of the total amount that local authorities would have collected if everyone liable had paid what they were supposed to.
The collection of council tax continues once the financial year to which it relates has ended as arrears are collected, unless the debt is written off.
Figure 1: Council tax collection rates: percentage point difference from the Wales average, 2024-25
Description of Figure 1: A bar chart showing the percentage point difference in council tax collection rates from the average Wales rate for each local authority. Neath Port Talbot is 2.1 percentage points above the Wales average for in-year council tax collection and Gwynedd is 2.7 percentage points below the Wales average. Blaenau Gwent has the largest year-on-year collection rate increase of 0.9 percentage points whereas Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire's rate decreased by 1.5 percentage points.
Source: Welsh Government council tax collection returns
More data on council tax collection rates and arrears can be found in the associated data tables (MS Excel) and on the StatsWales website (Collection).
Arrears
Council tax arrears refer to the unpaid council tax that a resident owes to their local authority. When a resident fails to pay their council tax on time, the amount due accumulates as arrears. Arrears are classed as recoverable by the local authority.
Writing off council tax arrears occurs when the local authority decides a resident doesn’t have to pay the unpaid council tax owed. This can happen if the resident is struggling financially or has other problems that make it hard to pay.
Council tax collection in 2020-21 and 2021-22 were affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with the resumption of these activities and services beginning later in 2021.
Figure 2: Arrears of Council tax brought forward at 31 March
Description of Figure 2: Outstanding council tax arrears reached a total of £263 million at 31st March 2025, a 18% year-on-year increase and a 139% increase compared to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels. The total arrears outstanding stood at £110 million at 31 March 2020.
Source: Welsh Government council tax collection returns
More data on council tax arrears over time can be found in the associated data tables (MS Excel) and on the StatsWales website (Collection).
Figure 3: Amounts outstanding per chargeable dwelling at 31 March 2025
Description of Figure 3: Gwynedd has the highest amount outstanding per chargeable dwelling at £373 whereas Neath Port Talbot has the lowest at £64. The Wales average is £186.
Source: Welsh Government council tax collection returns
More data on council tax arrears over time can be found in the associated data tables (MS Excel) and on the StatsWales website (Collection).
Figure 4: Arrears written off during year
Description of Figure 4: Billing authorities wrote off £9.2 million of council tax arrears in 2024-25.
Source: Welsh Government council tax collection returns
More data on council tax arrears written off over time can be found in the associated data tables (MS Excel) and on the StatsWales website (Collection).
Glossary
Data sources
The main sources of information on council tax collection in Wales are the council tax collection (CTC) returns. Wales collect 100% of returns from all twenty-two county councils.
Background
County and county borough councils are known as billing authorities, i.e. they collect council tax on behalf of the other charging authorities, namely police authorities and local community councils.
The CTC returns cover information about actual council tax raised and received, together with information about the arrears of council tax and the former community charge. The figures are net of all deductions on bills, including those covered by the council tax reduction scheme. Data are currently available, for the current structure of Welsh local authorities, from 1996-97 onwards.
The assumed collection rate is the billing authority’s estimate of the percentage of council tax for the year that will be ultimately paid. In arriving at a percentage collection rate, authorities consider the likely sum to be collected, previous collection experience and any other relevant factors. They make an estimated allowance for sums from the council tax reduction scheme and write-offs/non-collection.
The main point to note in respect of council tax collection information is that billing authorities sometimes face difficulties in separating receipts of arrears of council tax from payments in respect of the current year. In these cases, the figures may have been estimated by billing authorities.
Quality and methodology information
Official statistics status
All official statistics should show the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics (UK Statistics Authority).
These are accredited official statistics. They were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in March 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
It is Welsh Government’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of accreditation. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with OSR promptly. Accreditation can be cancelled or suspended at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR. OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
All of our statistics are produced and published in accordance with a number of statements and protocols to enhance trustworthiness, quality and value. These are set out in the Welsh Government’s Statement of Compliance.
These accredited official statistics (OSR) demonstrate the standards expected around trustworthiness, quality and public value in the following ways.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Trustworthiness
The main source of information on local authority council tax collection is the council tax collection (CTC) return.
We collect 100% of returns from all twenty-two county councils. The collection is a 100% survey and as such no estimation of the figures is calculated, and hence there is no sampling error.
The data collection is carried out in April and May. The data is normally published in June, this allows time to collect, collate and validate the data.
In tables where figures have been rounded to the nearest final digit there may be an apparent discrepancy between the sum of the constituent items and the total as shown.
The statistics that are collected adhere to recognised professional standards. Specifically, the finance data is required under legislation and also must adhere to CIPFA accounting procedures. However, further guidelines are also available on the interpretation of these standards to ensure consistency.
Adhering to the professional code (CIPFA’s SeRCOP) has meant that changes over time have been minimal. Where there have been time series which are not comparable from the start of the time series to the end this will be shown clearly in the outputs. Where advance warning is known of future changes these will be pre-announced in accordance with Welsh Government arrangements.
The existence of a professional code and our adherence to it provides assurance that the data are consistent across domains, such as local authorities.
The Welsh local government finance statistics are published in an accessible, orderly, pre-announced manner on the Welsh Government website at 9:30am on the day of publication. All releases are available to download for free.
All outputs adhere to the Code of Practice by pre-announcing the data of publication through the upcoming calendar web pages.
Access to the data during processing is restricted to those involved in the production of the statistics, quality assurance and for operational purposes.
Pre-release recipient information can be found on the Welsh Government website.
Quality
The published figures are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data and applying methods using their professional judgement and analytical skillset.
Statistics published by Welsh Government adhere to the Statistical Quality Management Strategy which supplements the Quality pillar of the Code of Practice for Statistics and the European Statistical System principles of quality for statistical outputs.
When data is received through the returns, validation checks are performed by Welsh Government statisticians and queries referred to local authorities where necessary. The statistical release is then drafted and quality assured by senior statisticians and published in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics (UK Statistics Authority).
The data collection contains multiple validation checks at source to ensure the best quality data is provided. This includes year-on-year tolerance checks and arithmetic consistency checks.
Once we receive the data, it goes through further validation and verification checks, for example:
- spend per head by local authority
- extra arithmetic consistency checks
- cross checks with other relevant data collections
- thorough tolerance checks
- outturn comparison with budgets
- cross checks with data from other government departments
- verification that data outside of tolerances are correct
More detailed guidance on the steps taken to ensure quality can be found in the Local government finance statistics: quality report.
Value
The statistics are important and have a number of uses, for example: advice to Ministers; local government finance revenue settlement calculations; unitary authority comparisons and benchmarking; expenditure in Wales compared to other countries; informing the debate in the Senedd and beyond; assisting in research in public expenditure issues; economic analysis.
More detailed data are also available at the same time on the StatsWales website (Collection) and this can be manipulated online or downloaded into spreadsheets.
Data on council tax are also available for England (gov.uk) and Scotland (Scottish Government). The council tax system does not apply to Northern Ireland.
Properties in Wales were revalued based on their market value as of April 1, 2003. This process introduced a new council tax band and changed the levels of the existing bands. Band D council tax should not be compared between countries due to the different banding systems used in each country.
We aim to use Plain English in our outputs and all outputs adhere to the Welsh Government accessibility policy.
Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.
Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the wellbeing goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.
Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.
Further details
A full detailed breakdown over time of the data contained in this release is available on our StatsWales website (Collection).
We want your feedback
If you have any feedback on this statistical release especially on the change from PDF to HTML and associated data tables then please contact us using the email address below.
