THE Scottish government has launched a consultation on proposals for a new mansion tax it estimates would raise up to £16 million extra a year. 

Earlier this year, then finance secretary Shona Robison outlined to Holyrood plans to create two new council tax bands for home homes valued at £1m and £2m on April 1 2026 estimates.

Now the Scottish government has launched a consultation on the proposals, including indicative rates for the new bands which would, on average, see residents of £1m homes pay £720 more and those living in property valued over £2m pay an extra £3,600 a year in council tax.

On those figures, it is estimated that the new bands could bring in between £12m and £16m a year in total, generating an average of up to £500,000 per council at best — enough to pay Glasgow City Council’s health and social care bill for a single morning.

Launching the consultation on the levy, which could see council tax takes soar by as much as 0.45 per cent, Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “Our progressive approach to taxation helps to target investment in economic growth, deliver public services and support cost-of-living measures not available elsewhere in the UK, such as free tuition, free prescriptions and our plans for a £2 bus fare cap across Scotland.

“In launching this public consultation, we are keen to hear the views of people and communities right across Scotland.”

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said the move was “welcome as far as it goes,” but added: “It must be a first step in a wholesale review of how we tax land and property throughout the country.

“The STUC has long maintained that, in addition to a mansion tax, a root and branch revaluation of all land and property across Scotland is needed to give our local authorities a fighting chance in replacing the broken system of council tax and introducing a proportionate property tax.

“While policies like a mansion tax are welcome, they are only a start.

“Government must now press ahead and ensure the full powers of the Scottish Parliament are used — using every lever at our disposal — to raise the revenue Scotland badly needs to fund our public services.” 

The consultation is due to close on August 24.