Council tax reform could be ‘key intervention’ in tackling poverty – campaigners

Reforming Scotland’s council tax system could be a “key intervention” in reducing poverty, campaigners have said.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said the current arrangements – where people pay an amount linked to the value of their property in 1991 – is “unfair by design” and has a disproportionate impact on poorer Scots.

Adding one in 10 households on the lowest incomes are behind on their council tax bills, the organisation branded the charge “outdated” and “regressive”, saying it “desperately needs reform”.

It welcomed planned reforms announced by Finance Secretary Shona Robison to bring in two new bands for properties worth more than £1 million, but said more significant changes could be a “key intervention to reduce poverty and hardship, and improve the fairness of our tax system”.

Chris Birt, JRF associate director for Scotland, said: “For more than three decades, Scotland has been saddled with a council tax system which is deeply unfair, as well as unpopular.

“It means that some people on low incomes are having to choose between heating, eating, or paying their council tax bill, at the same time as subsidising the wealthiest in society.

“We know that for the next Scottish government, meeting the nation’s legally-binding, cross-party child poverty targets by 2030-31 will require bold action at scale.

“A fair tax on housing wealth is part of what is needed, by cutting through the budget constraints that have limited investment in radical solutions to poverty.”

Mr Birt said the next government “must prioritise council tax reform to create the fiscal foundations for a fairer Scotland”.

He stressed: “We need to break a 30-year cycle of hoping a problem will just go away.”

Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the Scottish Government had carried out a joint consultation with local government body Cosla which “explored potential reforms to the council tax system”.

Ms Robison said: “Throughout our discussions we recognised that any future changes must be grounded in evidence and carefully assessed for their impact on households.

“The aim of our partnered work with local government is to examine whether consensus around a unified position on council tax could be achieved – at present, consensus on reform doesn’t exist.

“The cost-of-living crisis continues to place burdens on households across the country and ministers recognise this is unsettling for many people.

“That’s why more than £16 million has been allocated in the Scottish budget 2026-27 to invest in the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice services, including over £2 million for a specific council tax debt project.”