The Future of Council Tax in Scotland

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Closes 30 Jan 2026

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Council tax system

Council tax is based on a banding system, where homes are placed in one of eight bands based on what their estimated value was, or would have been, in 1991.

As all valuations for council tax are still based on prices from 1991 (called the market reference point), many properties are now in bands that no longer reflect their current market value.

This has led to concerns that the system is unfair, because two properties of the same value can find themselves charged very different council tax bills, even within the same local area. 

Furthermore, the system is often described as regressive, meaning that people in lower-value homes tend to pay a higher share of their property’s value in tax than people in higher-value homes. 

The current council tax bandings, with the market reference point (prices from 1991):

Band Range of values
A Up to £27,000
B Over £27,000 and up to £35,000
C Over £35,000 and up to £45,000
D Over £45,000 and up to £58,000
E Over £58,000 and up to £80,000
F Over £80,000 and up to £106,000
G Over £106,000 and up to £212,000
H Over £212,000
1. Do you think the current council tax system in Scotland needs to be reformed?
2. Do you think property values used to calculate council tax should be updated to reflect current market values, instead of using 1991 values (i.e. should there be a revaluation of every property in Scotland)?

More information

One of the main criticisms of the current system is that it is ‘horizontally regressive’, because it is based on outdated property values.  This means that homes with the same current market value can face very different bills depending on where they are because the system still relies on property values from 1991.

Updating the market reference point used for property valuation would bring council tax into line with today’s property market values. This would mean assigning homes to bands based on their current market value, rather than what they were worth in 1991. This work would be carried out by Scottish Assessors, and is known as a ‘revaluation’.

A revaluation can be designed to be revenue neutral nationally - this means that while some households would pay more and others less, the total amount of council tax raised across Scotland would remain broadly the same.

3. How often do you think property values should be reviewed and updated for council tax purposes?

More information

For any property tax system to remain accurate it needs to be supported by an updated tax base. There has never been a revaluation for council tax since it was introduced in 1991.

Over time, this has allowed inconsistencies to build up in how much households pay relative to the current value of their homes, both within and between local areas. To avoid this in future, the system could include a regular revaluation cycle.

Regular updates would keep the tax base, and the banding thresholds, aligned with housing market changes and reduce the need for large adjustments later on.

On the other hand, revaluing too frequently could bring diminishing returns and create unnecessary administrative burden.

4. Following a revaluation, do you think council tax band property value thresholds should be set at a national level or vary by council area?

More information

There are different ways a revaluation of property values could be carried out as part of council tax reform, these include:

A national revaluation

  • applies the same valuation bands across all council areas in Scotland
  • simpler to administer/communicate
  • consistent treatment for similar-value properties across Scotland
  • a stable base for future reform
  • less tailored to local markets and circumstances

A localised revaluation

  • valuation bands are set separately for each council based on local property markets (i.e. 32 local property markets)
  • tailored to local markets
  • may add complexity to the system (32 sets of thresholds)
  • similar value properties in different parts of Scotland could be assigned to different council tax bands and face different bills as a result
5. Which of the following is most important to you in the design of council tax bands?

More information

Differentiation generally means that tax rates rise gradually between sequential property bands, so council tax bills would change more gradually with increasing property values.

Progressivity increases tax rates for higher-value homes; households in higher-value homes would contribute a larger share of the overall council tax collected.