Public attitudes to council tax: 2025 (summary)

The Welsh Government is undertaking a programme of research to inform the Programme for Government commitment to reform council tax to ensure a fairer and more progressive system.

Previous research has identified that levels of awareness of and attitudes to local taxes are unclear and seldom measured. For this reason, this research has involved examining general public understanding and acceptance of the council tax system in Wales.

The purpose of this research is to examine public perceptions of the fairness of council tax. This includes the design and administration of the tax as well as the way revenue is used and invested in communities. It also explores the relationship between the level of knowledge and understanding of council tax and perceptions of its fairness, and draws out views on future reform of the tax. An additional set of questions included since the 2023 survey looks at how information about council tax is accessed.

Methodology

The Wales Omnibus Survey involves interviews with a quota sample of a minimum of 1,000 adults aged 16 years and over who are resident in Wales. Genuine statistical significance cannot, strictly speaking, be established using quota sampling; ‘significant’ differences refer to a pseudo-statistically significant different at the 95% confidence level.

Fieldwork for the March 2025 wave took place between 3 March and 23 March 2025, and the September 2025 wave took place between 22 September and 12 October 2025. A total of 1,000 interviews were completed in each wave.

Responsibility for paying council tax

The majority of respondents (92%) reported that they or someone in their household paid council tax, with Band D being the most commonly reported band.

Among those paying council tax, 48% had sole responsibility and 45% had joint responsibility, while 8% had no responsibility as someone else in the household paid. Most households paid their council tax in monthly instalments, with 53% paying over 10 months and 32% over 12 months. The most common value range for monthly payments was between £151 and £200. A third of respondents (33%) received one or more discounts, exemptions, or reductions, with the single person discount being the most common.

Among those not paying council tax, the main reason for not paying was being on a low income and receiving full Council Tax Reduction (71%).

Knowledge of and attitudes towards the current council tax system

Respondents were evenly split between those who felt they knew a fair amount about council tax (43%) and those who knew very little (42%). Only 9% reported that they knew a great deal, however this was significantly higher than in previous years (compared to 6% in 2024, 5% in 2023 and 5% in 2022). 

When respondents were asked to name services funded by council tax, the most commonly named services were bin or refuse collection (46%), policing (38%) and roads or road maintenance (28%). 

The majority of respondents (83%) agreed that paying council tax is a simple process, (65%) were aware of the support that may be available, (71%) would know who to contact if they had a problem with council tax and (64%) did not find their council tax bill difficult to understand. However, 60% disagreed that the council tax system is fair, 63% had not seen the benefit of council tax revenue invested in their local community, and 56% felt it was not clear how council tax is spent. 

Most respondents (62%) felt that the amount of council tax they were expected to pay was ‘too high’, with only 27% saying it was ‘about right’. When provided with information about the services funded by council tax, the proportion describing their bill as ‘too high’ decreased to 53%, while those saying it was ‘about right’ increased to 32%. 

Attitudes to change

When asked about potential changes to the council tax system, 42% of respondents agreed that council tax should be replaced with a different system of local taxation, 18% disagreed, and 40% were unsure. There was a significant increase in the percentage of respondents who disagreed that council tax should be replaced with a different system of local taxation between March 2024 (14%) and March 2025 (18%). 

When asked to rank alternative measures for local taxation, a system based on income was perceived as the fairest measure (41%). A system where everyone pays the same amount was ranked as the least fair measure (53%). 

Respondents also indicated that the most important aim for any new system of local taxation should be that local taxes are clear and simple to understand (30% ranked it as ‘absolutely vital’), however there was little variation in the mean average across the six aims presented. 

Accessing information on council tax

The most common method for accessing information about council tax was through local council websites (43%), whilst 20% used the Welsh Government website. Most respondents (80%) who used their local council website found it easy to access information, and similar levels of ease (72%) were reported for the Welsh Government website. 

When asked about their preferred methods for receiving information, the top choices were by post (42%) and by email (40%). 

The most requested type of information was about what council tax pays for (77%). 

Responsibility for paying council tax

The majority of respondents (88%) reported that they or someone in their household paid council tax, with Band D remaining the most commonly reported band. 

Among those paying council tax, 45% had sole responsibility and 44% had joint responsibility, while 11% had no responsibility as someone else in the household paid. Most households paid their council tax in monthly instalments, with 53% paying over ten months and 31% over twelve months. The most common value range for monthly payments was between £151 and £200. About a quarter of respondents (24%) received one or more discounts, exemptions, or reductions, with the single person discount being the most common, which was a 5% decrease compared with March waves (this refers to the total for the following waves: March 2022, March 2023, March 2024 and March 2025).

Among those not paying council tax, the main reason for not paying was being on a low income and receiving full Council Tax Reduction (77%), which was an 8% increase compared with March waves. 

Knowledge of and attitudes towards the current council tax system

Respondents were evenly split between those who felt they knew a fair amount about council tax (45%) and those who knew very little (39%), with 7% reporting that they knew a great deal. There was a 4% decrease in the percentage of respondents who reported that they knew very little about council tax compared with March waves.

When respondents were asked to name services funded by council tax, the most commonly named services were bin or refuse collection (48%), policing (40%) and roads or road maintenance (28%). 

The majority of respondents (80%) agreed that paying council tax is a simple process, (57%) were aware of the support that may be available, (69%) would know who to contact if they had a problem with council tax and (62%) did not find their council tax bill difficult to understand. However, 55% disagreed that the council tax system is fair, 56% had not seen the benefit of council tax revenue invested in their local community, and 56% felt it was not clear how council tax is spent. 

Most respondents (59%) felt that the amount of council tax they were expected to pay was ‘too high’, with 25% saying it was ‘about right’. When provided with information about the services funded by council tax, the proportion describing their bill as ‘too high’ decreased to 50%, while those saying it was ‘about right’ increased to 29%. 

Attitudes to change

When asked about potential changes to the council tax system, 39% of respondents agreed that council tax should be replaced with a different system of local taxation, 17% disagreed, and 44% were unsure - a slight decrease in support for change and an increase in uncertainty compared with March waves. 

When asked to rank alternative measures for local taxation, a system based on income was perceived as the fairest measure (38%). A system where everyone pays the same amount was ranked as the least fair measure (49%). 

Respondents also indicated that the most important aim for any new system of local taxation should be that local taxes are clear and simple to understand (44% ranked it as ‘absolutely vital’), however there was little variation in the mean average across the six aims presented.

Accessing information on council tax

The most common method for accessing information about council tax remained the local council website (42%), whilst 19% used the Welsh Government website. Most respondents (82%) who used their local council website found it easy to access information, and similar levels of ease (77%) were reported for the Welsh Government website.

When asked about their preferred methods for receiving information, the top choices were by email (42%) and by post (37%).

The most requested type of information was about what council tax pays for (79%).

The survey findings highlight that the majority of respondents reported that they, or someone in their household, paid council tax. Respondents were evenly split between having sole responsibility and joint responsibility for paying council tax. The most common council tax band reported was Band D. A third of respondents in March 2025 and around a quarter in September 2025 indicated that they received one or more discounts, exemptions, or reductions. Most respondents paid their council tax in monthly instalments, either over 10 or 12 months, however, in both March 2025 and September 2025, it was the lowest percentage who answered using the 10 month method since the survey began.

In terms of knowledge and attitudes, respondents were evenly divided between those who knew a fair amount about council tax and those who knew very little. Notably, a higher percentage in March 2025 reported knowing ‘a great deal’ about council tax compared to previous years. When asked to name services funded by council tax, the most common responses were recycling and waste collection, policing, and roads or road maintenance—these have consistently been the top three since the survey began in 2022.

The survey found that most respondents expressed the following positive attitudes towards the current council tax system: they described paying council tax as a simple process, were aware of the support that may be available, knew who to contact if they had a problem, and did not find their bill difficult to understand. However, the majority also reported the following negative attitudes: they had not seen the benefit of council tax revenue invested in their local community, felt the system was not fair, and found it unclear how council tax is spent. Most respondents also reported that the amount of council tax they are expected to pay is ‘too high’, although this percentage decreased when respondents were given information about the services funded by council tax.

When asked about reform, around two fifths of respondents agreed that council tax should be replaced with a different system of local taxation, but a similar percentage stated that they ‘don’t know’. There was a notable increase in the percentage of respondents who disagreed with replacing council tax between March 2024 and March 2025. When asked about alternatives, a system based on income was perceived as the fairest. Respondents indicated that the most important aim for a new system of local taxation is that local taxes should be clear and simple to understand.

Regarding access to information about council tax, the most common method was a local council website and most found it easy to use. When asked how they would prefer to receive information, the two most common responses were by email and by post. The most common type of information respondents wanted was about what council tax pays for.

Report author: Sean Homer and Louisa Smith (Knowledge and Analytical Services, Welsh Government)

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:

Public Services and Local Government
Social Research and Information Division
Knowledge and Analytical Services
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: Research.PublicServices@gov.wales

Social research number: 34/2026
Digital ISBN: 978-1-83745-172-2