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‘Mansion tax’ alone will not make council tax fairer

1 September, 2026

The Scottish Government’s ‘mansion tax’ will not make the country’s council tax system fairer in the absence of more fundamental local tax reform, according to the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT).

ATT was responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on plans to introduce two new council tax bands on homes worth more than £1 million and £2 million1.

In their submission, ATT said that the Scottish Government should seek political consensus for a revaluation of all residential properties in Scotland as part of a wider process of council tax reform.

ATT added that a replacement for the current system of council tax should be “simple to understand and linked to the ability to pay, without the need for complicated relief structures”.

In the absence of this, ATT said that as part of the plans for a ‘mansion tax’:

  • Ministers should consider adding extra bands for homes worth more than £2 million “to better reflect the progressive nature of the policy”.
  • Differences between bands should be graduated to avoid cliff edges for homes with values around different council tax thresholds.
  • The valuation process for deciding which homes will be included in the new tax bands should be transparent, with householders given access to the information used to reach the decision and a right to appeal. ATT has also questioned whether there will be sufficient time between now and the intended start date of 1 April 2028 for this to be completed satisfactorily.

ATT has also warned that the plan to let councils raise more money from the most expensive homes could end up disproportionately benefiting more affluent councils where such homes are concentrated.

Senga Prior, ATT Technical Officer, said:

“On their own, these proposals will do little to address the inherently unfair nature of the current council tax system.

“Addressing that requires genuine cross-party consensus on council tax reform, and we think the Scottish Government should aspire to achieve this early in the new parliament.

“As these plans stand, there is more the government could do to better reflect the progressive intent of the policy. This could include extra bands for the most expensive homes, as well as the removal of cliff edges for households in and around the margins of higher bands.”

Senga Prior continued:

“Given it is likely that many of the properties worth more £1 million will be concentrated in certain pockets of the country, it would be helpful for ministers to set out what, if any, measures will be used to ensure that all councils across the country have the opportunity to benefit from the additional revenue raised.

“Otherwise, we may face a situation where it is the most affluent areas which stand to benefit most from the policy.

Notes:

  1. ATT’s response can be read at https://www.att.org.uk/technical/submissions/consultation-scottish-council-tax-high-value-property-bands-mansion-tax