Future of council tax in Scotland: consultation
This consultation seeks views on how Scotland’s council tax system could be made fairer and more up to date. It explores illustrative models such as revaluing properties, adjusting tax bands and introducing protections to help households manage any changes to their bills.
Open
73 days to respond
Respond online
Footnotes
1 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
2 Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2024-25 - gov.scot
3 The Funding of Local Government in Scotland, 2025-2026 - gov.scot
4 Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2024-25 - gov.scot
6 Local government revenue - Local government - gov.scot
7 Council Tax - Local government - gov.scot
8 Council Tax Bands – Scottish Assessors
9 Council Tax Bands – Scottish Assessors
10 Council Tax - Local government - gov.scot
11 Council Tax - Local government - gov.scot
12 Things you need to know about this release - Council Tax Reduction in Scotland 2017-2018 - gov.scot
13 Council Tax - Local government - gov.scot
14 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
15 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
16 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
17 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
18 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
19 Council Tax Reduction in Scotland: 2024-2025 - gov.scot
20 Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2024-25 - gov.scot
21 Fairer Council Tax: consultation analysis - gov.scot
22 Paying Council Tax - mygov.scot
23 Mirrlees, J. et al. (2011). Tax by Design: The Mirrlees Review. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
24 Mirrlees, J. et al. (2011). Tax by Design: The Mirrlees Review. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
25 Mirrlees, J. et al. (2011). Tax by Design: The Mirrlees Review. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
26 Gibb, K. (2025). Sustainable Housing Policy in Scotland. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence
27 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report; Oates, W., (1969), ‘The effects of property taxes and local public spending on property values: an empirical study of tax capitalisation and the Tiebout hypothesis’, Journal of Political Economy, 77, 957–71,
28 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report; Hilber (2015) – shows tax incidence and capitalisation effects not only for ownership but also in rental markets.
29 Hilber, C. A. L. (2015), The economic implications of house price capitalization: a synthesis.
30 Adam, S., Hodge, L. Phillips, D. and Xu, X. (2020a), ‘Revaluation and reform: bringing council tax in England into the 21st century’, Institute for Fiscal Studies Report;
S., Hodge, L., Phillips, D. and Xu, X. (2020b), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Wales: impacts on different councils and household types’, Institute for Fiscal Studies Report
31 Council Tax Reduction in Scotland: 2024-2025 - gov.scot
32 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
33 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
34 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
35 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
36 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report; Adam, S., Hodge, L., Phillips, D. & Xu, X. (2020a) – Revaluation and reform: bringing council tax in England into the 21st century
37 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
38 Scottish Government (2018), ‘Council Tax Reduction in Scotland 2017-2018’.
39 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
40 Fairer Council Tax: consultation analysis - gov.scot
41 For more information see Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
42 Commission on Local Tax Reform, Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation (Scottish Government, December 2015)
43 Find out about how we are reforming Council Tax | GOV.WALES
44 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
45 The illustrative council tax property banding and valuations shown here are based on residential property sales price statistics from the Registers of Scotland for 2024. For this comparison it is assumed that local revaluation would result in similar proportions of properties in each band in each council.
46 Fairer Council Tax: consultation analysis - gov.scot
47 Local government finance sources and council tax reform: joint working group - gov.scot
48 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
49 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
50 Council tax datasets - gov.scot
51 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
52 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
53 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
54 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
55 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
56 Gibb, K. (2025). Sustainable Housing Policy in Scotland. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence
57 Gibb, K. (2025). Sustainable Housing Policy in Scotland. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence
58 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
59 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
60 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
61 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
62 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
63 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
64 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
65 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
66 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
67 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
68 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
69 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
70 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
71 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
72 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (2016), Consultation on the transitional arrangements for the 2017 business rates revaluation: summary of responses and government’s response. London: MHCLG; Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (2022), Business Rates Revaluation 2023: Consultation on the transitional arrangements – summary of responses and government response. London: DLUHC.
73 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
74 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
75 Lenders' Handbook - UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook
76 Deferred payment | Care Information Scotland
77 Adam et al. (2025), ‘Revaluation and reform of council tax in Scotland: design considerations and potential impacts’, Scottish Government Research Report
78 Deferral of Local Property Tax (LPT) payment
79 Property tax deferment program - Province of British Columbia
80 Property tax deferment program - Province of British Columbia
81 Council Tax Reduction in Scotland: 2024-2025 - gov.scot
82 Scottish Government (2018), ‘Council Tax Reduction in Scotland 2017-2018’.
83 The taper rate is the rate at which council tax support is withdrawn as a household’s income increases above a certain threshold. In other words, once your income goes above the level at which you qualify for full help, the taper determines how quickly your entitlement reduces.
Contact
Email: LocalTax@gov.scot