'Mansion tax' could double rates on Scotland's most expensive homes

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, A large proportion of Scotland's £1m homes are in Edinburgh By Angus Cochrane Senior political journalist, BBC Scotland Published 6 July 2026, 12:04 BST Updated 1 hour ago Council tax on Scotland's most expensive homes could almost double to £7,700 a year, the Scottish government has said. Under plans for a so-called mansion tax an estimated hike of £3,600 could apply to houses valued at more than £2m, while those worth between £1m and £2m could face an increase of about £720. Ministers said the new rates would affect an estimated 15,000 properties - 1% of the country's housing stock. The government is aiming to introduce the plans, which have been put out for a public consultation , external , from April 2028. The mansion tax was a key part of the Scottish government's Budget announcement earlier this year , though the levy would need to be agreed by parliament before it could be introduced. Ministers say the move could raise between £12m and £16m a year, to be distributed among councils. However, with local authorities expected to collect £3.5bn in council tax revenue in 2026-27, the higher estimate represents an increase of just 0.45%. Currently, Scotland has eight council tax bands, from A to H. Rates can be altered by local authorities, meaning they vary across the country. Under the government proposals, two new bands would be created. Band I would be for homes valued between £1m and £2m, and band J for homes worth more than that. The average annual bill for households in the current highest bracket - Band H - is about £4,051, according to the government. The bill for homes in the new Band I could rise to about £4,800 under the proposals. Houses in Band J face a potential increase to about £7,651. To determine which homes would fall into the new bands, a "targeted revaluation" would be carried out by the Scottish Assessors on all properties estimated to be worth more than £1m, regardless of their current band. Ministers have set aside £5m for this process. Scotland's high-value properties are not evenly spread across the country. They are concentrated in and around cities - particularly Edinburgh - and some rural areas. Registers of Scotland data shows , external there were 391 properties sold for more than £1m in 2024-25 - and more than half of them were in the capital. Council tax reform Existing council tax bands are based on 1991 valuations of homes. There is cross-party agreement that the outdated system should be reformed, but no consensus as to how that should be done. The Scottish government consulted on reforms during the last parliament, but as of yet no firm plans have emerged. It said any changes will be made "as part of cross-party discussions with local government". Announcing the consultations, Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said: "Our approach to tax is based on fairness – asking the wealthiest among us to contribute a bit more. "As it stands, some multi-mill