Work out if you'll pay Welsh Income Tax
Find out whether you'll be a Welsh taxpayer if you move to or from Wales, have more than one home or have no home.
Introduction
If you live in one place during a tax year and it’s in Wales you’ll be a Welsh taxpayer and will pay Welsh rates of Income Tax from 6 April 2019. It’s paid to the Welsh Government.
If you live anywhere else in the UK you will not be a Welsh taxpayer.
Your situation might be different if you:
- move to or from Wales during the year
- have more than one home at the same time
- have nowhere you can identify as your home
You can only be a Welsh taxpayer if you’re resident in the UK for tax purposes.
If you move to a new address you must tell HMRC so they can make sure you have the right tax code. Your employer cannot do this.
If you do not live in Wales
If you live outside of Wales, you’ll not be a Welsh taxpayer and none of the following will make you a Welsh taxpayer:
- national identity - you regard yourself as being Welsh
- location of work - you work in Wales
- you receive a salary or pension from a Welsh employer or pension provider
- you travel in Wales - for example, driving a lorry in, or frequent work visits to Wales.
All Welsh Parliamentarians will be Welsh taxpayers regardless of where they live.
If you move to or from Wales
You’ll only be a Welsh taxpayer if you live in Wales for longer than anywhere else in the UK during the tax year (6 April to 5 April the following year).
If you’re a Welsh taxpayer, you’ll pay Welsh Rates of Income Tax for the whole of the tax year.
From 6 April 2019, your tax code will start with an ‘C’ if you’re a Welsh taxpayer.
Example: you move to Wales
You’ve rented and lived at a house in Birmingham for several years. On 30 June your rental on the Birmingham property ends and you immediately move to a flat in Llandudno. The time you spent living in Wales in the tax year (1 July to 5 April) was longer than the time you lived in England (6 April to 30 June). This means that you’re a Welsh taxpayer for the whole tax year.
Example: you move from Wales
You’ve lived in Swansea for many years. In the course of the tax year you sell your house in Swansea and move into a flat in Manchester where you stay before moving to a new house in Bristol. During the tax year you spent:
125 days in Swansea 120 days in Manchester 120 days in Bristol
You’re not a Welsh taxpayer for the whole of the tax year because you lived in Wales for less time than you lived in England (Wales 125 days, England 240 days).
If you have more than one home at the same time
If you have more than one place which you regard as home, one in Wales and one elsewhere in the UK, you will be a Welsh taxpayer if your main home is in Wales. You will need to tell HMRC which is your main home.
What counts as your main home
Your main home is usually where you live and spend most of your time. It does not matter whether you own it, rent it or live in it for free.
Your main home may be the home where you spend less time if that’s where:
- most of your possessions are
- your family lives, for example, if you’re married, in a civil partnership or a long-term relationship
- you’re registered for things like your bank account, GP or car insurance
- you’re a member of clubs or societies
Example
You have a family home in Cardiff with your husband and children but work in Kilmarnock. To avoid the commute, you rent a flat in Kilmarnock where you stay during the week and keep some of your possessions. You return to the family home in Cardiff each weekend. All the friends that you see socially live in or around Cardiff. You’re also a member of various local sports and social groups in Cardiff and your doctor and dentist are in Cardiff.
Despite spending more time in terms of days in Kilmarnock through the tax year, your main home is Cardiff because of the family, social and other links that you have there. You’re therefore a Welsh taxpayer for the whole tax year.
You cannot identify anywhere as your home
Your situation may be that either:
- there is nowhere during a tax year that you’ve stayed for regular periods that you would regard as your home
- you’ve more than one place that you live and it’s not possible to identify which is your main home
Whether you’re a Welsh taxpayer will be determined by counting the number of days you spend in Wales and comparing it to the number of days you spend elsewhere in the UK during a tax year.
If you spend more days in Wales than elsewhere in the UK, you’re a Welsh taxpayer for the whole tax year.
What counts as a day
Where you spent a day depends on where you were at midnight at the end of the day. For example, if you lived in Wales from 10am on Monday to 5pm on Friday the same week, you spent 4 days there.
If you work offshore, you have spent a day in Wales if you’re up to 12 nautical miles from Wales.
Example: you have no home
You are a UK citizen but has no fixed place of residence during a tax year, neither owning nor renting property. You travel around the UK for work, staying in hotels. In the course of the tax year you spend 120 days in Wales, 100 days in England, 50 days in Scotland and 10 days in Northern Ireland.
Since you have no place of residence during the tax year, you compare the days you spend in Wales to the days you spend in other parts of the UK. Since the 120 days you spent in Wales is more than each of the days you spent in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, you are a Welsh taxpayer.
Travel through the UK
You might be in ‘transit’ through the UK. This means on the way from one country outside the UK to another outside the UK. It does not count as a day, even if you’re in the UK at midnight, unless you:
- do not leave the UK the next day
- carry out activities not connected with travel, for example, you visit friends, or go to a work meeting
Further information
Find detailed technical guidance about who is a Welsh taxpayer.
The Welsh Act 2017 contains the full definition of a Welsh taxpayer.
If you need further help or guidance contact HMRC.