Landfill tax went up in April. Here is what it did to a skip price

Customers see the skip price. They do not see that part of it is tax paid at the end of the chain, when the leftovers go into a landfill. In April 2026 that tax went up again, and the rate on soil and rubble more than doubled. Here are the new figures, and two skips priced from the ground up, so you can check your own price list against them.

The 2026 rates

The lower rate is for inert material that does not rot or react, such as clean soil, stone, brick and concrete. Nearly everything else pays the standard rate.

Scotland and Wales set their own taxes, but for 2026 to 2027 they landed in the same place: Scottish Landfill Tax and Wales's Landfill Disposals Tax both charge £130.75 and £8.65 a tonne. Wales also charges £196.15 a tonne on waste dumped somewhere without a permit.

Why the lower rate more than doubled

In 2025 the government consulted on merging the two rates into one. It did not go that far. Instead, both rates went up by the same £4.60 a tonne, which is a small rise on £126 and a huge one on £4. The government's reasoning is that inert waste was too cheap to bury, and a higher rate pushes more of it towards recycling and reuse.

The firms that feel it are the ones moving muck-away and rubble that ends up in a landfill rather than on a restoration scheme or through a crusher.

Skip one: 8 yards of mixed builders' waste

Here is an example 8-yard skip from a kitchen refit, weighing 1.8 tonnes, tipped at a transfer station that sorts it and sends about a quarter on to landfill. The figures are an example to show the shape of a price, not an average. Prices exclude VAT.

The landfill tax rise on this skip is about £2: 0.45 tonnes at £4.60. On a mixed skip, the tax was already most of the cost of the landfill share, and April barely moved it. What does move a mixed skip price is the gate fee as a whole, and that is set by your local transfer station, not by HMRC.

Skip two: 6 yards of rubble

Now a 6-yard skip of brick and concrete rubble, weighing about 6 tonnes. If it goes into a landfill at the lower rate, the tax on it was £24.30 last year. This year it is £51.90. That is £27.60 more on one skip, from tax alone, on a job that has always been sold on being cheap.

Transfer stations that send fines from sorting to landfill can get the lower rate on them, but only if they hold the evidence and the fines pass HMRC's loss on ignition test of 10% or less. If they fail, the whole lot pays the standard rate, and gate fees for mixed waste follow.

Three ways firms pass it on

1. 01A separate line on the invoice for the tax or the tipping charge, which moves when the rate moves. Customers accept a line they can see changing with the law more readily than a bigger headline price.
2. 02A weight limit for each skip size, with a charge for each tonne over. This is the fairest answer for rubble, where weight swings the cost most.
3. 03A new price list, sent with one sentence of explanation. "Landfill tax on rubble doubled in April" is true, short and easy to check.

What to expect next April

The 2027 rates have not been announced. They normally come in the autumn Budget, and the standard rate has risen with inflation for years. The government has also said the qualifying fines rules and the loss on ignition test are staying. We will update this post when the figures are out.

Questions people ask

Who pays landfill tax?

The landfill operator pays it to HMRC, and passes it on in the gate fee. The skip firm pays it through the gate fee, and the customer pays it through the skip price.

How much does it cost to get rid of waste by the tonne?

For mixed construction waste at a transfer station, published price lists in 2026 run from about £160 to £250 a tonne before VAT, and more in London and the South East. Ring your local sites, because the spread between two stations ten miles apart can be large.

Does landfill tax apply in Scotland and Wales?

They have their own versions, run by Revenue Scotland and the Welsh Revenue Authority, at the same rates for 2026 to 2027.

LoadSnap team

UK waste industry

Written by the team building LoadSnap, the UK waste compliance platform for carriers and receivers.