Councils Given Freedom To Set Council Tax Rates For 2022/23

10th December 2021

2021/22 council Tax was frozen but now councils may set new rates for 2022/23.

Council Tax is a local tax, with receipts retained by local government and separate from the Scottish Budget. It makes a significant contribution to the funding of public services. Every household in Scotland potentially has a council tax liability, although the council tax reduction scheme reduces this for around 500,000 households according to need and ability to pay.

In 2021-22, acknowledging the impact of the pandemic on households, the Scottish Government secured local government's agreement to freeze Council Tax at 2020-21 rates. For 2022-23, councils will have complete flexibility to set the Council Tax rate that is appropriate for their local authority area.

In setting Council Tax rates, we expect councils to take full account of local needs and of the impacts on household budgets of the decisions they make.