On the 13th January 2026 the Cabinet Secretary for Finance delivered the Scottish Budget for 2026–27. The detail is there to be picked over, but two headlines which warrant comment are:
New Council Tax Bands (‘Mansion Tax’)
Following the November budget, where the UK government announced a tax on homes worth £2 million or more in England, from 1 April 2028, homes in Scotland, valued at between £1 million and £2 million will fall under a new Band I, while homes valued at over £2 million will fall under a new Band J. These bands are to be based on new up to date valuations. The remaining council tax system will not change.
It’s not yet clear how much more affected households might pay as it will be down to individual councils to set the rates. It should be noted that the current annual bill for a Scottish property in band H – the top band right now – is between £3,378 and £4,082.
This change is expected to affect fewer than 1% of households in Scotland.
Removal of Small Business Bonus Scheme for Deer Forests and Sporting
Under planned amendments to non‑domestic rates, the small business rate relief currently available to some sporting organisations will be changed.
Shootings and deer forests are to be excluded from eligibility for Small Business Bonus Scheme relief from 1st April 2026, except:
- where shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of deer management, including to prevent damage to woodland or to agricultural production, environmental management or vermin control
- for crofts
- for “all forms of agricultural and small landholding tenancies, leases for new entrants, and leases agreed for environmental purposes”. It has not yet been made clear how far this might go beyond the agricultural exemption but would appear to cover on-tenancy diversification
This announcement will impact shoots and syndicates which have been eligible for Small Business Bonus Scheme reliefs following the introduction of sporting rates which were brought in by the 2016 Land Reform Act.
From April 1st 2026, operators currently eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme will be eligible for a transitional relief which phases the loss of the benefit, over three years.
Under the new relief, rate payers will pay 25% of the increase to their net bill in year one (2026/27), 50% in 2027/28 and 75% in 2028/29.
BASC natural capital assessments highlight the scale of what is at risk, claiming that shooting provides Scotland with carbon, health, wellbeing, food, and recreational benefits valued at more than £246 million annually, this also includes an estimated £29 million in carbon sequestration resulting from woodland creation and management linked to gamebird shooting. (Removing Scottish sporting rates relief risks rural jobs and conservation – BASC)