Scottish Landfill Tax is charged per tonne on waste disposed of to landfill in Scotland, and is paid to Revenue Scotland by the holder of the site’s environmental authorisation, or by anyone who knowingly allows waste to be dumped at an unauthorised site. From 1 April 2026 the standard rate is £130.75 per tonne and the lower rate, for less polluting qualifying material, is £8.65 per tonne. The Scottish Landfill Communities Fund, which gave operators a tax credit for funding local projects, closed to new contributions on 1 April 2026.

What is a taxable disposal?

Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) replaced UK Landfill Tax in Scotland on 1 April 2015 and is governed by the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014. Revenue Scotland’s guidance (SLfT1002) says a disposal is taxable if it meets three conditions:

  1. It is a disposal of material as waste. This happens when the person disposing of it intends to discard it. It does not count that the material may have a value or use to someone, now or later (SLfT1003). If a contractor disposes of waste for a customer, the customer is treated as making the disposal.
  2. It is made by way of landfill. Material is deposited on or under the ground, or on a structure set into it, including into a cavity such as a mine, whether or not it is in a container or covered straight away (SLfT1004).
  3. It is made at a landfill site. This includes any site needing an environmental authorisation for disposals, whether or not one is held, and sites used to store waste for more than a year before disposal, or generally for more than three years before recovery or treatment.

The key difference from the UK tax, Revenue Scotland says, is that disposals at unauthorised sites (illegal dumping) have been taxable in Scotland from the start. Activities on a site that are listed in the Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Order 2014, as amended in 2022, are also taxable. For sites in England and Northern Ireland see Landfill Tax.

Who pays it and how is it administered?

The permit or authorisation holder for a Scottish landfill site is liable for every taxable disposal there, including waste it produces itself at an in house site (SLfT1006). Anyone who knowingly permits or carries out a disposal at an unauthorised site is also liable. You must tell Revenue Scotland that you are liable to register within 30 days of first making taxable disposals or forming the intention to, whichever is earlier.

Revenue Scotland collects the tax and delegates some functions to SEPA, which shares data with it. Quarry and waste businesses should note that Revenue Scotland also collects Scottish Aggregates Tax, which replaced the Aggregates Levy in Scotland from 1 April 2026. Returns are self assessed and quarterly, aligned with Pollution Prevention and Control reporting periods. The return and payment are due within 44 days of the quarter end:

Quarter Period Filing and payment deadline
1 1 April to 30 June 13 August
2 1 July to 30 September 13 November
3 1 October to 31 December 13 February
4 1 January to 31 March 14 May

Payment is due by the earlier of the fifth working day after the return is submitted and the last working day on or before the 44th day after the quarter end. Late returns and payments can attract interest and penalties under Revenue Scotland’s general rules.

What are the rates?

Rate From 1 April 2025 From 1 April 2026
Standard rate £126.15 per tonne £130.75 per tonne
Lower rate £4.05 per tonne £8.65 per tonne

The 2026 rates are set by the Scottish Landfill Tax (Standard Rate and Lower Rate) Order 2026. Tax is charged by weight under section 13 of the 2014 Act. A load made up wholly of qualifying material, even from several groups, is taxed at the lower rate. A load mixing qualifying and non qualifying material is taxed in full at the standard rate (SLfT2002).

Can a slightly contaminated load still get the lower rate?

Yes, within limits. Section 14 lets Revenue Scotland direct that a load is treated as qualifying despite a small amount of non qualifying material, and its guidance at SLfT2006 is that direction, with the force of law. The contamination must have been unreasonable to prevent at source and unreasonable or impractical to remove, and must not have been added or blended in afterwards. Hazardous waste is always standard rated. Revenue Scotland’s example of an acceptable load is demolition rubble with small pieces of wood and plaster stuck to bricks; large pieces that could be picked out make the whole load standard rated. Keep waste transfer notes that describe the non qualifying element and its proportion, because in cases of doubt the standard rate applies.

Which materials qualify for the lower rate?

The list is in the Scottish Landfill Tax (Qualifying Material) Order 2016, summarised at SLfT2003:

  • Group 1, rocks and soils: naturally occurring rock, clay, sand, gravel, stone, slate, sub soil (not topsoil), silt and dredgings. Crushing or sorting does not change their status; chemical or thermal processing does.
  • Group 2, ceramic or concrete materials: glass, bricks, tiles, pottery and concrete, but not glass reinforced plastic or concrete plant washings.
  • Group 3, processed minerals: such as used foundry sand and mineral absorbents, but not moulding sands with organic binders.
  • Group 4, furnace slags, and Group 5, ash, with exclusions for fly ash from sewage sludge, municipal, clinical and hazardous waste incinerators.
  • Group 6, low activity inorganic compounds, such as calcium carbonate and iron oxide.
  • Group 7, calcium sulphate and gypsum, only in a non hazardous cell taking no biodegradable waste, and never plasterboard.
  • Group 8, calcium hydroxide and brine deposited in a brine cavity.

What is exempt?

Revenue Scotland’s guidance at SLfT3005 lists:

  • dredgings from rivers, canals, watercourses, docks, harbours and harbour approaches, and naturally occurring material from commercial seabed extraction, provided only that material is deposited and any additive is there only to stop it being liquid waste (section 7);
  • naturally occurring waste from commercial mining and quarrying, not chemically altered or produced by a separate process;
  • pet cemeteries;
  • the filling of quarries, subject to conditions;
  • material cleared up from illegal or improper deposits, under an exemption certificate.

No certificate is needed for the dredgings exemption, but you must keep records showing the source of the waste and any treatment, or tax is payable.

What credits can an operator claim?

Credits reduce the operator’s liability on a later return. Revenue Scotland’s guidance covers bad debt relief where a customer does not pay, credit for waste landfilled temporarily and later removed for recycling, incineration or reuse, and credit for waste removed to another site under enforcement. Each has its own record keeping conditions.

What was the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund, and what happens now?

The Scottish Landfill Communities Fund (SLCF) let operators claim a tax credit of 90% of contributions made to approved bodies registered by SEPA, capped at a percentage of their SLfT liability for the contribution year (most recently 5.6%). Approved bodies funded projects such as reclaiming contaminated sites, community recycling, and parks, habitats and historic buildings within 10 miles of a landfill site or transfer station, with administration costs capped at 10%.

The Scottish Landfill Tax (Administration) Amendment Regulations 2026, made on 13 January 2026, switched off regulation 27, the entitlement to credit, from 1 April 2026. Credit is still available for qualifying contributions made before that date. Revenue Scotland says the Scottish Government closed the fund after a 2025 consultation because declining landfill tax revenues made it unsustainable, and that earlier contributions should allow projects to keep being funded until March 2028.

What does a quarter look like?

Illustration only. An operator receives the following in April to June 2026:

  • 1,000 tonnes of mixed commercial waste: 1,000 x £130.75 = £130,750.
  • 400 tonnes of clean subsoil and crushed concrete: 400 x £8.65 = £3,460.
  • One 20 tonne load of rubble with a plastic sheet and timber offcuts that could have been removed: taxed at the standard rate, £2,615, instead of £173.

The return showing £136,825 is due, with payment, by 13 August 2026. A contribution to an approved body in May 2026 earns no credit.

What mistakes do operators and producers make?

  • Using old SLCF habits. Contributions made on or after 1 April 2026 do not reduce the tax.
  • Lower rating mixed loads. Removable contamination makes the whole load standard rated.
  • Assuming an unauthorised site is outside the tax. In Scotland it is taxable, on top of any environmental penalties.
  • Applying the UK tax. The site’s location decides the tax: SLfT in Scotland, Landfill Disposals Tax in Wales, UK Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland. See devolved taxes in Scotland and Wales.

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Sources

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.