# Council tax url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/council-tax/ updated: 29 September 2026 licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources. publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) # Council tax Last updated 29 September 2026. Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/). **A charge on homes, set by local councils, based on what the property was worth on a valuation date now decades in the past.** Whoever lives in the property, usually the occupier rather than the owner. Single-adult households get a 25% discount; students and some others are exempt. ## Key figures - £2,411Average Band D, England, 2026-27 As of 6 April 2026 - £1,653Average Band D, Scotland, 2026-27 As of 6 April 2026 - £2,326Average Band D, Wales, 2026-27 As of 6 April 2026 Sources: [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics), [Scottish Government](https://www.gov.scot/publications/council-tax-datasets/), [Welsh Government](https://www.gov.wales/council-tax-levels). ## What is the short version? - **Latest change, 2022:** Referendum limits mean most councils raise bills by close to the maximum permitted without a vote, which has become the default rather than the exception. - **Where it goes:** Your council, the police, and often a fire authority. - **The argument:** Property cannot be moved offshore, so it is almost impossible to avoid; against that, bands are based on 1991 values in England and Scotland, so they no longer reflect what homes are worth. ## How big is it? **Council tax as a share of the economy, 1946–47 to 2022–23** **The numbers behind this chart** Search | Financial year | % of GDP | | --- | --- | | 1946–47 | 1.206% | | 1948–49 | 1.322% | | 1950–51 | 1.075% | | 1952–53 | 1.017% | | 1954–55 | 1.097% | | 1956–57 | 1.205% | | 1958–59 | 1.243% | | 1960–61 | 1.295% | | 1962–63 | 1.399% | | 1964–65 | 1.406% | | 1966–67 | 1.537% | | 1968–69 | 1.407% | | 1970–71 | 1.29% | | 1972–73 | 1.331% | | 1974–75 | 1.287% | | 1976–77 | 1.315% | | 1978–79 | 1.286% | | 1980–81 | 1.403% | | 1982–83 | 1.581% | | 1984–85 | 1.377% | | 1986–87 | 1.481% | | 1988–89 | 1.519% | | 1990–91 | 1.334% | | 1992–93 | 1.12% | | 1994–95 | 1.048% | | 1996–97 | 1.089% | | 1998–99 | 1.202% | | 2000–01 | 1.285% | | 2002–03 | 1.389% | | 2004–05 | 1.494% | | 2006–07 | 1.501% | | 2008–09 | 1.548% | | 2010–11 | 1.568% | | 2012–13 | 1.514% | | 2014–15 | 1.5% | | 2016–17 | 1.501% | | 2018–19 | 1.6% | | 2020–21 | 1.802% | | 2022–23 | 1.649% | Figures for the 2022–23 financial year. Source: [Office for Budget Responsibility](https://obr.uk/data/). ## How does it work? Every home sits in a band, and the band determines the bill. The bands are based on what the property was worth on 1 April 1991 in England and Scotland, and 1 April 2003 in Wales. England and Scotland have never revalued. A house built last year is still given a notional 1991 value. Each band is a fixed multiple of Band D, set in law. Band A pays two-thirds of Band D; the top band pays twice it in England, and slightly more in Scotland and Wales. The ratios are compressed, which is why council tax takes a far larger share of a cheap home’s value than an expensive one’s. ### What does this mean for you? Choose a band to see the average bill for it in England, 2026-27. Your own council’s figure is on its page. Your band Band A (6/9 of Band D)Band B (7/9 of Band D)Band C (8/9 of Band D)Band D (9/9 of Band D)Band E (11/9 of Band D)Band F (13/9 of Band D)Band G (15/9 of Band D)Band H (18/9 of Band D) Band D (9/9 of Band D): about **£2,411 a year** on the England average, or £241 a month over the usual ten instalments. Average Band D for England including adult social care and parish precepts, times the band’s fixed ratio. One adult living alone gets 25% off. Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics). The bill is not one charge. It is several bodies’ charges added together: the council that bills you, often a county council above it, the police and crime commissioner, sometimes a fire authority or a combined authority, and often a parish or community council. Each sets its own precept. Council tax does not fund most of what your council does. Across England it covers roughly half of council spending; the rest comes from business rates and central government grant. That is why a large cut in council tax would not shrink services by the same proportion, and why a grant cut raises council tax even when the council changes nothing. Find your own council’s bill for every band on [council tax by council](/councils/), or compare every council on [the council map](/councils/map/), with each council’s report card of official figures on complaints, finances, audit and services. ## How has it changed? How it got here, and why each change was made: - **1990**The Community Charge, the poll tax, replaces domestic rates: a flat charge per adult regardless of property or income. It triggers mass non-payment and riots. - **1993**Council tax replaces it, deliberately designed as a compromise: property-based like the old rates, but banded and capped so the top band pays only twice the middle one. - **1991**The valuation date England and Scotland still use. Properties are banded on what they were worth that April. - **2003**Wales revalues and adds a ninth band. England plans to do the same, then cancels it in 2005 before the 2005 election. No English revaluation has been attempted since. - **2013**Council Tax Benefit is abolished and replaced by local schemes with less money, so the poorest households in many areas start paying council tax for the first time. - **2017**The adult social care precept lets councils raise bills specifically for social care, and most do, every year. - **2022**Referendum limits mean most councils raise bills by close to the maximum permitted without a vote, which has become the default rather than the exception. ## Where does the money go? **Your council, the police, and often a fire authority.** Council tax is one of the few UK taxes where you can see exactly who gets it: the bill itself lists each body and its share. But within each body it is not earmarked to any service. The adult social care precept is the nearest thing to a genuine earmark, and even that is only loosely policed. ## Is it different where I live? **Average Band D council tax by nation, 2026-27** - 1. England £2,411 - 2. Wales £2,326 - 3. Scotland £1,653 Each nation’s official average, including parish or community council precepts. Northern Ireland has domestic rates instead of council tax. **Show as a table** | Name | Average Band D, 2026-27 | | --- | --- | | 1. England | £2,411 | | 2. Wales | £2,326 | | 3. Scotland | £1,653 | Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics), [Scottish Government](https://www.gov.scot/publications/council-tax-datasets/), [Welsh Government](https://www.gov.wales/council-tax-levels). ### Scotland Scotland uses the same 1991 valuation date but raised the multipliers for bands E to H in 2017, so expensive homes pay relatively more than in England. Police and fire have been funded centrally since 2013, so Scottish bills have no police precept. Water and sewerage charges are collected with the bill but belong to Scottish Water and are not council tax. ### Wales Wales revalued in 2003 and has nine bands rather than eight, with a Band I above the English top band. Bills include a police precept and usually a community council precept. ### Northern Ireland Northern Ireland has no council tax at all. Households pay domestic rates: a regional rate set by the Executive plus a district rate set by the council, both charged as pence in the pound of the property’s 2005 capital value. Because it is proportional to value rather than banded, it is closer to a true property tax. ## Does it change what people do? Revaluation is the clearest case in UK tax of a reform everyone agrees is needed and nobody attempts. Any revaluation creates losers whose bills rise sharply, and they are concentrated and vocal, while the winners are dispersed. Wales managed it once in 2003 and has not repeated it. [When a tax rise stops raising money](/when-tax-rises-lose-revenue/) looks at the cases where the effect has been large enough to move the revenue. ## How does that compare with other countries? **In 2024 the UK raised 1.7% of GDP this way: first of the 5 countries compared here.** **Revenue from this heading as a share of GDP, 2024** - ◆1. United Kingdom 1.7% - 2. France 1.4% - 3. Netherlands 0.3% - 4. Sweden 0.3% - 5. Germany 0.1% ◆ UK **Show as a table** | Name | Share of GDP | | --- | --- | | 1. United Kingdom (UK) | 1.7% | | 2. France | 1.4% | | 3. Netherlands | 0.3% | | 4. Sweden | 0.3% | | 5. Germany | 0.1% | Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: [OECD](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD). **What is being compared** The OECD heading is recurrent taxes on the immovable property of households - council tax in the UK, and its equivalents elsewhere. Not every country reports it separately. Countries are those this site compares throughout, not the whole OECD, and a country appears only where it reports this heading for 2024. ## What are the arguments? ### The case for council tax - Property cannot be moved offshore, so it is almost impossible to avoid. - Collection rates are high and administration is cheap. - It gives councils a revenue source they control and are accountable for. - The bill names every body that receives a share, which almost no other tax does. ### The case against - Bands are based on 1991 values in England and Scotland, so they no longer reflect what homes are worth. - The band ratios are compressed, so it takes a far bigger share of a cheap home’s value than an expensive one’s. - It takes no account of income, so asset-rich, cash-poor households can struggle. - Councils facing grant cuts raise it to stand still, which breaks the link between the bill and local decisions. Both columns are set out as their strongest case, not as a preferred answer and a strawman. See [how this site handles contested questions](/neutrality/). ## Common questions How much is council tax and what does it pay for? A charge on homes, set by local councils, based on what the property was worth on a valuation date now decades in the past. Whoever lives in the property, usually the occupier rather than the owner. Single-adult households get a 25% discount; students and some others are exempt.Where does council tax go? Your council, the police, and often a fire authority. Council tax is one of the few UK taxes where you can see exactly who gets it: the bill itself lists each body and its share. But within each body it is not earmarked to any service. The adult social care precept is the nearest thing to a genuine earmark, and even that is only loosely policed. ## Use this data The figures belong to the bodies that published them and are used under their terms, listed in [Sources for this page](#sources); most are Crown copyright under the Open Government Licence. Only our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, published under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse them, including commercially, if you credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) and link back to this page. ### Download - [Public sector receipts as a share of GDP since 1900 (CSV)](/data/obr-total-receipts-share-gdp.csv) [JSON](/data/obr-total-receipts-share-gdp.json) Office for Budget Responsibility: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) - [Total HMRC receipts by financial year (CSV)](/data/receipts-total.csv) [JSON](/data/receipts-total.json) HM Revenue and Customs: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) - [All data, field definitions and licences](/data/) ## Sources for this page | Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Historical public finances database](https://obr.uk/data/) | Office for Budget Responsibility | the 2022–23 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk) | HM Revenue and Customs | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics) | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [Council Tax Assumptions: Council Tax by Band](https://www.gov.scot/publications/council-tax-datasets/) | Scottish Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [Council Tax levels](https://www.gov.wales/council-tax-levels) | Welsh Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [Revenue Statistics: comparative tables](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD) | OECD | 1 January 2024 | annual | [CC BY 4.0 (OECD)](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html) | Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Related pages - [Next in this section: What council tax does and doesn’t pay for](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/what-council-tax-pays-for/) - [Which is my council, and how do all the councils compare?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/) - [How does my council compare with others?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/map/) - [Where does my tax money actually go?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/) - [How much stamp duty will I pay on a house?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/stamp-duty/) ## More from this publisher - [UK tax calculators](https://howlongisit.co.uk) Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.