Rates, bands and allowances
Welsh Income Tax rates
Part of the Income Tax on Welsh wages and pensions is set in Wales. Here is how that part works, and why the total is the same as in England.
Tax-free pay from this job
£12,570 a year
- 1257 × 10 = £12,570, and the letter L means the standard tax-free Personal Allowance.
- Welsh rates
- Cumulative: allowance and bands build up through the tax year, so over- or under-payments correct themselves
| Tax-free pay each month | £1,048.26 |
| Tax over the year on £38,000 | £5,084.00 |
| That is, each month | £423.67 |
| With C1257L instead | £5,084.00 |
Estimate with HMRC’s payroll method and the same pay every month. Only HMRC can change your code.
If your main home is in Wales, you pay the Welsh rates of income tax on your wages and pensions, and HMRC puts a C in front of your tax code, so the standard code is C1257L. Since 6 April 2019, the UK rates on that income are reduced by 10p in every pound for Welsh taxpayers and the Senedd sets a Welsh rate that is added back in each band. For 2026 to 2027 the totals come out at 20% on gross income from £12,571 to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above, exactly the rates paid in England and Northern Ireland. A salary of £38,000 therefore loses £5,084.00 to Income Tax over the year, on C1257L or on 1257L alike. Savings interest and dividends are taxed as in the rest of the UK. The Welsh rates for 2027 to 2028 have not been published yet.
Welsh rates with a C code
Tax with C1257L
£5,084.00
| With 1257L | £5,084.00 |
| Difference | £0.00 |
The Welsh rates of income tax are 10p in each band, so the totals match England in 2026 to 2027.
Rules read on HMRC’s texts by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
How the Welsh rates are built
Income Tax on wages and pensions in Wales has two layers. The UK government charges its rates minus 10p in the pound, as the Budget overview of 28 October 2026 describes, and the Senedd chooses a Welsh rate for each band that is added on top. The bands and the Personal Allowance used in Wales are the same as in England. HMRC's payroll specification has carried separate Welsh rates since 6 April 2019, so payroll software can apply a different total if the Senedd ever chooses one.
So far it has not. For 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK lists the same totals and thresholds as for England and Northern Ireland, which means the Welsh rate in each band equals the amount the UK takes off.
| Band | Gross yearly income | Total rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional | over £125,140 | 45% |
C1257L and the other C codes
The C is the only thing that marks you out as a Welsh taxpayer on a payslip. The number and letter are worked out exactly as elsewhere, so C1257L gives £1,048.26 of free pay a month, and a code with company benefits or Marriage Allowance simply gains the C in front, for example C1383M. A second job is normally CBR at 20%, or CD0 and CD1 when the main pay already reaches the higher or additional band. After a P45 has been issued, any later payment is taxed on C0T on a non-cumulative basis for someone whose code had a C, under HMRC's P9X notice. NT never takes a C, and neither does the emergency code 1257L.
| Yearly pay | C1257L | 1257L | CBR, one month |
|---|---|---|---|
| £22,000 | £1,884.00 | £1,884.00 | £366.60 |
| £38,000 | £5,084.00 | £5,084.00 | £633.20 |
| £60,000 | £11,428.00 | £11,428.00 | £1,000.00 |
| £130,000 | £39,428.00 | £39,428.00 | £2,166.60 |
Welsh rates with a C code
Tax with C1257L
£11,428.00
| With 1257L | £11,428.00 |
| Difference | £0.00 |
The Welsh rates of income tax are 10p in each band, so the totals match England in 2026 to 2027.
Because the totals match, a missing or extra C does not change your tax this year. It still matters, because a wrong status would show in your pay the moment the Senedd set rates that differ from England's. The C1257L page covers the code on its own.
Who pays the Welsh rates
The test is where you live. Someone who moves into or out of Wales pays the Welsh rates for a tax year only if Wales was where they lived longest of any part of the UK in that year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. When HMRC changes your status, the new rates are backdated to the start of the year of the move, and the tax on your wages or pension is adjusted automatically over the rest of the year.
With a home in Wales and another elsewhere in the UK, the main home decides. Normally that is the place where you live and pass most of your time, owned, rented or lived in for free, but a home where you spend less time can still count if it holds most of your belongings, is where your family lives, or is where you are registered for banking, a GP or car insurance. This often applies to lorry drivers, offshore workers and members of the armed forces. If your code shows a C and you do not live in Wales, or the other way round, update your address with HMRC; your HMRC online account shows the code and the address it holds. People who file a Self Assessment return online also have a box to say they pay the Welsh rates.
What is known about 2027/28
Set by the Senedd with the Welsh budget for 2027 to 2028, not published on 29 October 2026. Annex A of the UK Budget already fixes the Personal Allowance at £12,570 and the basic rate band at £37,700 for that year, and both apply in Wales. The Budget also creates separate property income rates from April 2027 and lets the Welsh Government set its own; these do not touch wages. Until the Welsh rates are published, the calculators on this site use the 2026 to 2027 Welsh rates for 2027 to 2028 and say so. The page on next year follows the other changes.