Welsh Ministers have made the Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2025, setting Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) rates for disposals made on or after 1 April 2026. The standard rate will be £130.75 per tonne, the lower rate £8.65 per tonne, and the unauthorised disposals rate £196.15 per tonne. The instrument is subject to Senedd approval.
According to the Welsh Government, the Regulations were made on 5 December 2025, will be laid before Senedd Cymru on 9 December 2025, and are scheduled for approval on Tuesday 20 January 2026. The instrument is signed by Mark Drakeford MS, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language.
The measures apply to a taxable disposal within the meaning of Part 2 of the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017. The Welsh Revenue Authority administers LDT. Unauthorised disposals-taxable disposals made at places other than authorised landfill sites-are charged at the unauthorised rate; Welsh Government guidance notes this rate is set at 150 per cent of the standard rate to deter waste crime.
For disposals made on or after 1 April 2025 but before 1 April 2026, the rates set earlier in 2025 remain in force: £126.15 per tonne at the standard rate, £6.30 at the lower rate and £189.25 for unauthorised disposals. These were prescribed by the Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2025.
Compared with 2025–26, the 2026–27 rates represent an increase of about 3.6 per cent for the standard rate (from £126.15 to £130.75) and for the unauthorised rate (from £189.25 to £196.15). The lower rate increases by around 37 per cent (from £6.30 to £8.65). The unauthorised rate continues to track at 150 per cent of the standard rate.
For landfill operators, the practical work now is administrative rather than structural: update weighbridge systems, price lists and contracts to reflect the 2026 rates, and reconfirm evidence requirements if applying the lower rate to qualifying materials. The qualifying conditions are set out in the 2017 Act and Welsh Government guidance.
LDT applies to disposals in Wales and replaced UK Landfill Tax in Wales from April 2018. Operators working across borders should ensure charging and invoicing reflect the regime applicable where the authorised landfill site is located.
The Welsh Government links the 2026 rates to its tax principles and the objective of reducing landfill disposals in Wales. Subject to the scheduled Senedd vote in January, the new rates will commence on 1 April 2026, giving finance teams in local government and the waste sector a four‑month planning window.