Scotland sets its own business rates, called non-domestic rates, and the 2026 revaluation changed many rateable values from 1 April 2026. Enter your rateable value and how the property is used to estimate the 2026-27 bill after the main reliefs.
Non-domestic rates in Scotland, 2026-27
Non-domestic rates are a property tax that helps pay for council services. The Scottish Government sets the rates, and councils administer and collect them. Your bill starts with the rateable value that independent assessors give your property, multiplied by a national poundage, the pence you pay for each pound of rateable value. Reliefs are then taken off. You can look up any property's rateable value on the Scottish Assessors website.
Properties were revalued from 1 April 2026, so many rateable values changed this year. The calculator starts with a mainland shop with a rateable value of £14,800, one of the Scottish Government's own examples.
For 2026-27 all three rates went down. Properties above £51,000 and above £100,000 pay a supplement on top of the basic 48.1p, making the intermediate and higher rates:
| Rateable value | Rate | 2026-27 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £51,000 or less | Basic Property Rate | 48.1p | 49.8p |
| £51,001 to £100,000 | Intermediate Property Rate | 53.5p | 55.4p |
| Over £100,000 | Higher Property Rate | 54.8p | 56.8p |
A property with a rateable value of £60,000 therefore starts at £60,000 × 0.535 = £32,100 before any relief.
The Small Business Bonus Scheme gives relief on occupied properties. The relief depends on the property's rateable value and, if you occupy more than one business property in Scotland, on their combined value, which must be £35,000 or less:
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Property rateable value | One property | Several properties |
|---|---|---|
| £12,000 or less | 100% | 100% if the combined value is £12,000 or less |
| £12,001 to £15,000 | Tapers from 100% to 25% | 25% on each property up to £15,000 |
| £15,001 to £19,999 | Tapers from 25% to 0% | Tapers from 25% to 0% on each property |
| £20,000 or more | None | None, and none at all once the combined value passes £35,000 |
The tapers follow two formulas. From £12,001 to £15,000 the relief is 100 − (75 × (1 − ((15,000 − rateable value) ÷ 3,000))) per cent, and from £15,001 to £19,999 it is 25 × ((20,000 − rateable value) ÷ 5,000) per cent. For the £14,800 shop, that's 30%. Empty properties, advertising sites, car parks, betting shops, payday lenders and short-term lets without a licence can't get the scheme.
For 2026-27, shops, leisure venues and other listed retail, hospitality and leisure uses on the mainland get 15% off if the rateable value is £100,000 or less. Hotels, hostels, pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes and live music venues within the same limit get 40%. On islands and in the Cape Wrath, Knoydart and Scoraig areas, eligible properties pay nothing. Each ratepayer can save no more than £110,000 across all its properties.
In the Scottish Government's examples this relief is added to any Small Business Bonus Scheme percentage. The £14,800 shop gets 30% plus 15%, so its gross bill of £7,118.80 falls by 45% to £3,915.34.
To soften the 2026 revaluation, the bill before other reliefs can't rise by more than a set percentage above the 2025-26 bill. That 2025-26 figure is the rateable value on 31 March 2026 times 49.8p, 55.4p or 56.8p. The cap comes before any other relief, and councils can usually apply it without an application, although licensed self-catering lets have to apply:
| Rateable value on 1 April 2026 | Most the bill can rise in 2026-27 |
|---|---|
| £20,000 or less | 15% |
| £20,001 to £100,000 | 30% |
| Over £100,000 | 50% |
| Licensed self-catering, any value | 15% |
In one of the Government's examples, a property's value went from £20,000 to £35,000. Its 2025-26 bill was £9,960 and the new gross bill £16,835, so the 30% cap holds it to £9,960 × 1.3 = £12,948. The caps continue for two more years: by 2028-29 the bill can be up to 93.6%, 227.6% or 459.1% above the 2025-26 bill, depending on the rateable value.
If the property had the Small Business Bonus Scheme, rural relief, hospitality relief or small business transitional relief on 31 March 2026, and its bill after reliefs goes up, the increase over the 2025-26 net bill is cut to 25% of what it would have been. This applies after every other relief, and you have to apply to your council. In 2027-28 and 2028-29 the relief limits increases to 50% and 75% of what they would otherwise have been. In an official example, a property that paid nothing in 2025-26 and would owe £3,367 in 2026-27 pays £841.75 instead.
This is the Scottish Government's example of a pub whose rateable value went from £42,000 to £50,000. In 2025-26 its gross bill was £20,916 and 40% hospitality relief brought it down to £12,549.60. For 2026-27 the gross bill is £50,000 × 0.481 = £24,050. That's only 15% more than last year, inside the 30% cap, so revaluation transitional relief doesn't apply. The 40% relief for licensed hospitality takes the bill to £14,430. Because the pub had hospitality relief on 31 March 2026, small business transitional relief then cuts the £1,880.40 increase to a quarter, £470.10, so the final bill is £13,019.70. Enter those figures in the calculator to follow each step.
Registered charities and community amateur sports clubs can get 80% relief, and councils can add up to 20% more. Rural relief, day nursery relief and relief for public electric vehicle charging points can remove the bill completely. A property re-occupied after at least six months empty, with a rateable value of £100,000 or less, pays nothing for 12 months. Apart from revaluation transitional relief, you apply to your council for reliefs.
For a property in England, use our business rates calculator instead. The LBTT calculator covers buying premises in Scotland, and the corporation tax calculator and VAT calculator help with other business taxes.
Your rateable value is multiplied by the poundage for its band, then reliefs are taken off. For 2026-27 the poundage is 48.1p up to £51,000, 53.5p from £51,001 to £100,000 and 54.8p above £100,000.
The Basic Property Rate is 48.1p, down from 49.8p. The Intermediate Property Rate is 53.5p and the Higher Property Rate 54.8p.
Occupied properties with a rateable value under £20,000, where the combined rateable value of all your business properties in Scotland is £35,000 or less. Relief is 100% up to £12,000 and tapers to nothing at £20,000.
15% for eligible shops and leisure properties on the mainland with a rateable value of £100,000 or less, 40% for hotels, pubs, restaurants, cafes and music venues, and 100% on islands. Relief is capped at £110,000 per ratepayer.
It caps the rise in the bill before other reliefs at 15%, 30% or 50% of the 2025-26 bill, depending on the new rateable value. Councils can usually apply it without an application, but licensed self-catering lets must apply.
On the Scottish Assessors website, which lists the rateable value of every rated non-domestic property.
