The future of council tax in Scotland
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) welcomed the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Government’ and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities’ (COSLA) consultation on the future of council tax in Scotland.
Download the future of council tax in Scotland (422KB, PDF)
The RSE’s original consultation response and this expanded advice paper draw on the varied expertise of the RSE Fellowship, including on the economy, fiscal policy, and the public sector. Specifically, a working group, which included Fellows and members of the RSE Economy and Enterprise Committee, was formed to contribute to both the consultation response and this advice paper.
The working group approached this new consultation with the aim of building on previous work done by the RSE in response to a previous Scottish Government and COSLA consultation on council tax in 2023.
In its 2023 advice paper, the RSE argued against proposals from the Scottish Government and COSLA to increase the multipliers relative to Band D for properties in Bands E, F, G, and H, as these changes would have been made while still using out-of-date house valuations from 1 April 1991. The Scottish Government and COSLA’s most recent consultation paper is correct in recognising the need for larger, more ambitious reform and addressing the many issues present in the current council tax system. It is also right to focus primarily on the need for a national revaluation of all property values, which has not been undertaken since 1991 and has undermined the legitimacy of council tax for years. The RSE agrees with the new consultation paper’s position that “while revaluation alone would not resolve every concern about council tax, it is a necessary first step to making the system more accurate, proportionate, and credible.”
In this time of significant strain on public finances and marked societal inequality, it is vital that the Scottish Government and COSLA follow through on their commitment to reforming council tax. Achieving buy-in will be difficult but does not negate the need for change. Once delivered, this change must also be maintained through regular periods of revaluation and reform, as noted in this paper. It is only by doing this that the council tax system can be viewed as credible and proportionate. The RSE hopes that serious consideration is given to the proposals outlined in this advice paper for where further improvements can be made.
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Publication Date
06/04/2026Identifier
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