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Council tax in Carmarthenshire
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
Council tax in Carmarthenshire for 2026-27 is £2,351 a year for a Band D home, £1,567 for Band A and £5,486 for the top band. That is £25 above the Wales average of £2,326. It ranks 11 of 22 billing areas in Wales. Figures are the council's own set rates. Wales publishes Band D only, so the other bands here are worked out from the statutory ratios.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Welsh Government.
Key figures
- £2,351Band D a year, 2026-27
- £1,567Band A, the lowest
- +£25Band D against the Wales average of £2,326 Above average
- 11 of 22Rank in Wales, highest first
Source: Welsh Government.
What is the bill for each band?
| Band | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|
Band ADetails for Band A | £1,567.47 | £130.62 |
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Band BDetails for Band B | £1,828.71 | £152.39 |
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Band CDetails for Band C | £2,089.96 | £174.16 |
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Band DDetails for Band D | £2,351.20 | £195.93 |
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Band EDetails for Band E | £2,873.69 | £239.47 |
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Band FDetails for Band F | £3,396.18 | £283.02 |
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Band GDetails for Band G | £3,918.67 | £326.56 |
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Band HDetails for Band H | £4,702.40 | £391.87 |
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Band IDetails for Band I | £5,486.13 | £457.18 |
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Wales publishes Band D only. The other bands are derived using the statutory ratios, which are fixed in law and the same for every Welsh authority, so these are exact rather than estimated.
Who gets the money?
| Who receives it | Band D | Share |
|---|---|---|
County or county borough councilDetails for County or county borough council | £1,831 | 78% |
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Police and crime commissionerDetails for Police and crime commissioner | £388 | 16% |
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Community councilDetails for Community council | £133 | 6% |
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Each body sets its own precept and the council simply collects them together. The council that sends the bill keeps only its own share.
How does it compare?
Band D here is £25 above the Wales average, 11 of 22 councils from the highest. It rose 5% on last year.
How does Carmarthenshire compare? The report card
Official figures on complaints, finances, audit, pay and services for Carmarthenshire, each from the body that published it and set against the figure for Wales. See every council on the council map.
- Council tax rise this year5.3%Higher than the Wales figure of 5.2%
- Council tax per head£1,025Higher than the Wales figure of £963
- Ombudsman interventions13% (11 of 87 closed)The same as the Wales figure of 13%
- Recycling rate71.4%Higher than the Wales figure of 68.4%
- Planning decisions on time95.5%Higher than the Wales figure of 90.5%
Each figure is set against the figure for Wales as a whole. They are plain comparisons, one measure at a time: there is no overall score and no ranking of councils. Higher is not always better or worse; what each measure does and does not show is on the methodology page.
What do complaints to the ombudsman show?
| Measure | Carmarthenshire | For comparison |
|---|---|---|
Complaints closedDetails for Complaints closed | 87 | — |
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Closed with the Ombudsman interveningDetails for Closed with the Ombudsman intervening | 11 (13%) | 13% across Welsh councils |
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The Ombudsman publishes one row per closed case; the counts here are this site’s own, from those rows, for the 2024-25 financial year. The Ombudsman’s annual letter to each council may count slightly differently.
Source: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Open data: complaints closed, 2024-25.
How healthy are its finances?
| Measure | Carmarthenshire | For comparison |
|---|---|---|
Outstanding borrowing at 30 June 2026Details for Outstanding borrowing at 30 June 2026 | £434.0m | — |
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The Welsh Government publishes council reserves as a PDF report only, so no figure is shown here. Much of any council’s reserves is set aside for particular purposes. Borrowing is total outstanding loans of every kind; councils borrow mainly to pay for buildings, roads and housing, and the figure does not show what the borrowing was for.
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local authority borrowing and investment live table, 30 June 2026.
What have the auditors said?
| Report | Title | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Latest local report (Audit Wales) | Carmarthenshire County Council – Between a rock and a hard place? Managing Carmarthenshire’s roads | 14 August 2026 |
| Latest Annual Audit Summary (Audit Wales) | Carmarthenshire County Council – Annual Audit Summary 2025 | 6 March 2026 |
Audit Wales publishes an Annual Audit Summary for each council, which states its opinion on the accounts, and reports on particular services. Follow each link for the findings in full.
Source: Audit Wales, Local reports and Annual Audit Summaries, latest report. Checked 22 September 2026.
What are senior staff and councillors paid?
Senior pay and councillor allowances for Carmarthenshire have not yet been read from its statement of accounts. There is no central dataset of either; they are being added council by council, each with a link to the page of the accounts it comes from.
How are its services rated?
| Measure | Carmarthenshire | For comparison |
|---|---|---|
Municipal waste reused, recycled or composted (the statutory target measure), 2024-25Details for Municipal waste reused, recycled or composted (the statutory target measure), 2024-25 | 71.4% | 68.4% for Wales |
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Planning decisions on time, January to March 2026Details for Planning decisions on time, January to March 2026 | 95.5% | 90.5% for Wales |
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Inspections happen at different times, so a rating can be several years old; the date is shown with each. Planning figures are measured differently in each nation: share of planning applications determined within the statutory or an agreed time, in one quarter. Recycling rates are measured differently in England, Scotland and Wales, so compare within a nation.
Source: Welsh Government, Local authority municipal waste management, 2024-25; Welsh Government, Development management quarterly survey, January to March 2026.
What has happened recently?
Decisions and publications by official bodies about Carmarthenshire, newest first. Each links to the body that made or published it. News reports are not included.
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Audit
Audit Wales
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Council tax
Welsh Government
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Audit
Audit Wales
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Election
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales 38, Labour Party 23, Independent 13Democracy Club
Does the council think something here is wrong?
If you represent Carmarthenshire and think a figure here is wrong, out of date or unfairly presented, email hello@whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk with this page’s address and the source you would point to. Every correction is logged, with its date, on the corrections page.
Where can I find out more?
What council tax is and why it works this way, including why the bands are still based on 1991 property values in England and Scotland, and how every area compares, everything else on Carmarthenshire: parking, roads, your MP and local services, and Carmarthenshire on the council map.
Common questions
- How much is council tax in Carmarthenshire?
- Band D is £2,351 a year for 2026-27. Band A is £1,567 and the top band £5,486.
- Is council tax in Carmarthenshire higher than average?
- Yes. Band D here is £25 above the Wales average of £2,326.
Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Tax levels | Welsh Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
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.