As the FT has noted:
The Scottish government said it planned to introduce a “mansion tax” on homes valued at more than £1mn and to impose a tax on private jets from April 2028, as it gears up for Holyrood elections in May.
They added:
Finance secretary Shona Robison on Tuesday said the Scottish National Party administration would ask the wealthiest to “contribute that little bit more” as she laid out the draft 2026-27 Budget bill to the devolved parliament.
Two new council tax bands on properties worth more than £1mn would raise money and address the current system under which owners of expensive homes pay similar amounts to those who own more modest properties, according to the Budget bill.
The steps are small, but the real range of tax powers devolved to Scotland is very limited, so the opportunities for action are likewise. Both measures are, however, welcome: they indicate a direction of travel that Scotland would like to move in.
And it should also be noted that tax thresholds for the lowest earners in Scotland will be raised next year, meaning 55% of Scots will pay less tax than those in the rest of the UK.
If only Westminster would take note. The need for the wealthy to pay more in the interests of social justice and to reduce inequality is high. It is time action was taken.
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Why cant Scotland reform Council Tax though rather than using 1991 valuations?
Wales has done something even if they have retained the basic Council Tax model
I genuinely do not know, but let’s be hinbest, it would make little difference. The valuations are known not to be real and are just to create bands. Upodating them would stillcrteate bands, probbaly very like those based on old values.
Oh & Typo in the Title……………
Corrected now
Would it not be better to raise the higher levels of income tax? Thats the best way of getting the well off to pay.
There are limits to what Scotland can do – and it has already moved in that direction
My late father was involved in the last Scottish revaluation exercise, just before he retired. It is a very costly exercise, in terms of doing the work and the political fallout. The pluses are that it corrects any relative differences of one property value to another, that have occurred since the last valuation. This would in theory benefit me, as the property I live in is of 70s vintage, and whilst in a reasonably affluent area, the property value has not risen as fast as newer properties built in the last ten years nearby. Under the current situation, I pay the same council tax as the more expensive properties. The negative is, the bands, i.e. what you pay, are inevitably chosen to ensure no loss of funding to Councils. So whilst a few households may benefit by dropping down a band, most wont change band, and a few will go up a band. The latter end up objecting and it has to go through a tribunal process, which takes a long time and costs a fortune to implement.
Thanks