Friday January 9th 2026
Edinburgh City Chambers
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
Edinburgh Council is set to ask the Scottish Government to explore a ‘more progressive’ taxation system, if plans are approved by councillors.
Officers have assembled a response to a consultation asking councils what changes should be made to council tax, with councillors set to vote on the response next Thursday.
In it, officers expressed support for having a broader number of council tax bands, with steeper rates for the most highly valued properties.
Additionally, they supported a revaluation of capital properties, with future valuations happening on a five-year cycle.
Council tax rates work off the financial value homes have, with higher values meaning more tax, as well as water and sewer rates – though those two are not covered in the consultation.
The valuations currently in use have not changed since 1991, and a report before councillors states that values in different areas have all increased since then, but at different rates.
A revaluation would mean the council tax that each property pays would change – with some increasing, and some decreasing.
Officers said in the report that, if a revaluation were done under the current council tax system, some two-thirds of homes could go up a band versus 24% across Scotland.
Additionally, only 5% of homes would drop a band, compared to 26% across the country, with more homes possibly seeing an increase if a new model is adopted.
Council officers added that this would continue an issue with the current model, which sees Edinburgh rely on council tax for income more than any other council in Scotland.
According to data in the report, Edinburgh gets almost 25% of its funding from council tax, while Glasgow only nets 15%.
The Finance and Resources Committee will next meet on Thursday, 15 January. You can view more information here.
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