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

'Mansion tax' could double rates on Scotland's most expensive homesImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, A large proportion of Scotland's £1m homes are in Edinburgh ByAngus CochraneSenior political journalist, BBC ScotlandPublished6 July 2026, 12:04 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoCouncil 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 Assesso...