No more delays: specific manifesto commitments needed on Council Tax replacement

Tax Justice Scotland – a campaign backed by more than 50 organisations, academics, economists and trade unions – has published new analysis challenging Party Leaders to ‘grasp the jaggy thistle of real reform’.  

It warns that decades of inaction have left Scotland’s Council Tax system outdated and financially unsustainable, forcing local authorities to rely on a system that perpetuates deep and persistent unfairness.   

The campaign group say the unfair tax is failing Scotland’s communities, while leaving local public services – like schools, social care and libraries – under growing pressure.  

Yet despite years of cross-party agreement that Council Tax is unfit for purpose – a fact acknowledged by the Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee in June when he said a revaluation process is “absolutely needed” – Tax Justice Scotland says political leaders are still stalling. While the Scottish Government says they’re in discussions with local authorities, they admit these are merely intended to inform a public debate that will run “for a number of years”, with no substantial reform “this decade”.  

Campaigners say that punting reform even further into the long grass risks repeating the same cycle of delay that has plagued reform for more than two decades.  

With sharply rising bills falling hardest on those least able to pay, campaigners say it is clear Scotland deserves more than drawn-out consultations and vague promises.  

Tax Justice Scotland is calling for concrete manifesto commitments to: 

• Abolish Council Tax and replace it with a fair, modern property tax. 

• Launch a national revaluation of property as a first step in the next Parliament. 

• Ensure the new system is local, proportional, and protects those on low or fixed incomes, while ensuring effective transition support is in place. 

Dave Watson, Director of The Jimmy Reid Foundation, said on behalf of Tax Justice Scotland: “We’ve had consultations, commissions and countless commitments, but little has changed. Decades of delay on Council Tax reform have deepened the crisis facing local services and locked in inequality. The 2026 election is the moment for Scotland’s leaders to move beyond words and commit to the fair, modern and proportionate tax system our communities deserve.” 

Tax Justice Scotland also says that replacing Council Tax is a crucial step toward a fairer tax system that does more to help tackle the deep divide between the wealthiest and those who are struggling to get by. Property is one of the biggest forms of wealth in Scotland, and it’s also the main existing way the Scottish Parliament can tax wealth that people already own.  

Campaigners say Council Tax unfairness doesn’t just hurt communities, it compounds existing inequalities. Low-income households, a large number of which are headed by women, including single parent households, can pay proportionately some of the highest bills, with built in safeguards not fit for purpose. 

Tax Justice Scotland warns that failure to act will mean thousands of households will continue to get hammered by unfair bills, while limiting councils’ ability to raise much needed finance for local public services. They point to the 2015 cross-party Commission on Local Tax Reform, which concluded that “the present Council Tax system must end” – a recommendation still ignored a decade later.  

The campaign’s new analysis points to the Accounts Commission’s warning that local authorities are dipping into reserves and making one-off savings to balance the books, but that communities are facing “a growing expectation gap” between demand and what councils can afford to deliver.  

Still based on outdated 1991 property values, the current Council Tax system means those in the least valuable homes are often paying more than their fair share, while wealthier households contribute less. By 2014, the most expensive homes paid at most 3.5 times more than the cheapest, even though they were, on average, at least 15 times as valuable. This gap will have widened further. Campaigners also point to evidence that over half of properties are in the wrong Council Tax band relative to where they would be if valuations were brought up to date. 

With schools, social care, and waste collection under unprecedented pressure, Tax Justice Scotland insists that only bold, detailed commitments from party leaders will break the cycle of delay and deliver the fairer future Scotland deserves. 

Sara Cowan, Director of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, added on behalf of Tax Justice Scotland: “The broken system of Council Tax hits women hardest, especially those holding up households, holding down low-paid jobs, and holding communities together. The evidence has been sitting on a shelf for years, and the consensus for what comes next is clear. We’re calling on every party leader to show courage and leadership by putting Council Tax replacement front and centre in their manifestos, so the next Scottish Parliament finally grasps the jaggy thistle and delivers real reform.” 

/ENDS  

For more information and interviews, please contact: Rebecca Lozza, Oxfam Media and Communications Adviser, Scotland and Wales: rlozza1@oxfam.org.uk / 07917738450   

Notes to Editors 

• Read Tax Justice Scotland’s briefing, Outdated and Unfair: The Case for Council Tax Reform here. 

• Find out more about Tax Justice Scotland: https://taxjustice.scot/  
• Tax Justice Scotland is supported by over 50 diverse organisations, academics and economists. It campaigns for a fairer tax system in Scotland, across the UK, and globally that delivers for people, public services, and the planet.