By region
Scottish council tax 2026/27, council by council
Every Scottish council by Band D, with one water bill shared by all and rises well above the English limit.
Fife, Band C, 2026/27
£1,979a year
First payment £196.68, then 9 of £198.00
| Band C charge | £1,398.84 |
| Scottish Water: water | £268.40 |
| Scottish Water: waste water | £311.44 |
| Bill for the year | £1,978.68 |
Band C at 320/360 of Band D.
Where the council tax goes
In Scotland the council sets a single figure: police and fire are funded nationally.
How Fife compares
Band D here is £1,573.70, number 28 of 32 in Scotland (1 = dearest). The same band in South Lanarkshire, the cheapest, costs £1,846 on the same terms, water aside.
Think the band is wrong? How a band challenge works
The 32 Scottish councils charge between £1,468.47 at Band D in South Lanarkshire and £1,816.16 in Midlothian for 2026/27, before water. On top of that every Band D home pays £652.32 to Scottish Water for water and waste water, the same in every council. The Scottish Government's average Band D, weighted by the number of homes in each council, is £1,653.44. Bills rose sharply after the national freeze of 2024/25 came to an end: the increase for 2026/27 ranges from 4.0 % in City of Edinburgh to 10.0 % in Aberdeenshire. Scottish bills contain no police or fire precept and no parish share, so the whole council tax figure is the council's own. Band A pays 240/360 of Band D and Band H 882/360.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the bill is worked out
All Scottish councils, 2026/27
| Council | Band A | Band D | Band H | Band D 2025/26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midlothian | £1,210.77 | £1,816.16 | £4,449.59 | £1,666.20 | 9.0 % |
| Argyll and Bute | £1,188.89 | £1,783.33 | £4,369.16 | £1,625.64 | 9.7 % |
| Stirling | £1,168.58 | £1,752.87 | £4,294.53 | £1,611.78 | 8.8 % |
| East Dunbartonshire | £1,167.78 | £1,751.67 | £4,291.59 | £1,599.70 | 9.5 % |
| Aberdeen City | £1,165.03 | £1,747.54 | £4,281.47 | £1,636.27 | 6.8 % |
| Moray | £1,154.09 | £1,731.14 | £4,241.29 | £1,573.76 | 10.0 % |
| Dundee City | £1,153.13 | £1,729.69 | £4,237.74 | £1,605.34 | 7.7 % |
| East Ayrshire | £1,144.85 | £1,717.28 | £4,207.34 | £1,606.44 | 6.9 % |
| Falkirk | £1,143.39 | £1,715.09 | £4,201.97 | £1,576.77 | 8.8 % |
| Glasgow City | £1,137.33 | £1,706.00 | £4,179.70 | £1,611.00 | 5.9 % |
| East Lothian | £1,131.75 | £1,697.62 | £4,159.17 | £1,579.18 | 7.5 % |
| South Ayrshire | £1,129.97 | £1,694.96 | £4,152.65 | £1,569.41 | 8.0 % |
| Renfrewshire | £1,127.04 | £1,690.56 | £4,141.87 | £1,572.61 | 7.5 % |
| Aberdeenshire | £1,124.03 | £1,686.04 | £4,130.80 | £1,532.76 | 10.0 % |
| North Ayrshire | £1,123.89 | £1,685.84 | £4,130.31 | £1,553.77 | 8.5 % |
| Clackmannanshire | £1,122.45 | £1,683.67 | £4,124.99 | £1,594.38 | 5.6 % |
| West Dunbartonshire | £1,121.02 | £1,681.53 | £4,119.75 | £1,559.86 | 7.8 % |
| Inverclyde | £1,115.90 | £1,673.85 | £4,100.93 | £1,551.30 | 7.9 % |
| Perth and Kinross | £1,115.89 | £1,673.84 | £4,100.91 | £1,537.04 | 8.9 % |
| Orkney Islands | £1,112.71 | £1,669.07 | £4,089.22 | £1,574.60 | 6.0 % |
| Highland | £1,089.33 | £1,633.99 | £4,003.28 | £1,527.09 | 7.0 % |
| West Lothian | £1,085.06 | £1,627.59 | £3,987.60 | £1,515.45 | 7.4 % |
| City of Edinburgh | £1,084.03 | £1,626.05 | £3,983.82 | £1,563.51 | 4.0 % |
| East Renfrewshire | £1,080.10 | £1,620.15 | £3,969.37 | £1,528.44 | 6.0 % |
| Scottish Borders | £1,079.01 | £1,618.52 | £3,965.37 | £1,491.72 | 8.5 % |
| Angus | £1,065.77 | £1,598.65 | £3,916.69 | £1,461.52 | 9.4 % |
| Dumfries and Galloway | £1,052.43 | £1,578.65 | £3,867.69 | £1,454.98 | 8.5 % |
| Fife | £1,049.13 | £1,573.70 | £3,855.57 | £1,498.76 | 5.0 % |
| North Lanarkshire | £1,036.37 | £1,554.56 | £3,808.67 | £1,452.86 | 7.0 % |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | £1,003.67 | £1,505.50 | £3,688.48 | £1,387.56 | 8.5 % |
| Shetland Islands | £991.93 | £1,487.90 | £3,645.36 | £1,386.67 | 7.3 % |
| South Lanarkshire | £978.98 | £1,468.47 | £3,597.75 | £1,378.85 | 6.5 % |
Band D figures come from the Scottish Government council tax datasets. A plain average of the 32 councils gives £1,661.92, slightly above the weighted national figure, because several of the largest councils by number of homes, such as South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, Fife and Edinburgh, sit in the lower half of the table.
Rises above the English limit
Councils in England cannot raise their charge by more than 4.99 % without a local referendum. Scotland has no such rule this year, and 31 of the 32 Scottish councils raised Band D by more than that. The highest rises are in the right-hand column; most of the councils with the largest increases are rural or mixed areas, while the big cities rose less.
The water part of the bill
Each band also pays Scottish Water's two charges, which this year went up by 8.67 %. At Band A they total £434.88, at Band D £652.32 and at Band H £1,304.64. The calculator includes them automatically and leaves them out if you select a home without a mains connection.
Reading the ranking with care
A low Band D figure does not always mean a low bill. Council areas differ in their mix of homes: in Edinburgh, East Dunbartonshire or East Renfrewshire a large share of homes sits in Bands E to H, which pay more than Band D, while in Glasgow, Inverclyde or North Lanarkshire most homes are in Bands A to C. The amount a household actually pays depends on the band of its own home, so compare the column for your band rather than Band D alone. Since the upper bands were made dearer in 2017, that gap between the band columns is wider in Scotland than in England.
Using the calculator for a Scottish home
The calculator opens on Fife, Band C, where two adults pay £1,978.68 with water, or £197.87 in each of 10 instalments. Living alone brings the bill to £1,484.01, because the 25 % discount applies to water too. Fife's Band D charge is £1,573.70, up 5.0 %. Pick your council and band; if you do not know the band, the Scottish Assessors Association search gives it for any address.
Since 1 April 2026 the default premium on second homes and long-term empty homes is 100 %, but each council can set its own rate. The Scottish council tax guide explains the rules, bands and ratios in detail.