Key points
- £15.2 million in Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) was declared payable in Q2 2025/26 (July to September 2025). Total standard rate tonnage was 123,400 and total lower rate tonnage was 86,700.
- Total SLfT declared due in Q2 2025/26 was higher than in Q2 2024/25. This is inconsistent with the pattern in recent years for overall decreasing SLfT year to year. This is due to the increase in standard rate SLfT per tonne.
- 24 operators provided returns for the latest quarter, covering 43 sites. Note that some sites also submit nil returns for some quarters as operators are liable to submit a return until they are de-registered.
Introduction
This publication is part of a quarterly series of Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) statistics, started in April 2015, which provides data on the total number of returns; total number of sites; total tax payable; total contributions to the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund; standard and lower rate waste tonnages, as reported to Revenue Scotland.
An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland
These statistics are official statistics. Official statistics are statistics that are produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Revenue Scotland statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
Quarterly statistics
SLfT declared by quarter
SLfT was £15.2 million during Q2 2025/26, higher than Q2 2024/25 (£14.4m).
Figure 1: Column chart showing SLfT declared by quarter from 2015/16 to 2025/26, with a decreasing trend through time. An additional line shows the four quarter moving average for SLfT declared due.
Total SLfT declared due in Q2 2025/26 was 6% higher than in Q2 2024/25. This is inconsistent with the pattern in recent years for overall decreasing SLfT year to year. This is due to the the increase in standard rate SLfT per tonne.
Tonnage by quarter
Both standard rate tonnage and lower rate tonnage in Q2 2025/26 were lower than last year.
Figure 2: Line chart showing standard and lower rate tonnages by quarter.
Standard rate tonnage in Q2 2025/26 (123,400 tonnes) was 15% lower than Q2 2024/25 (144,700 tonnes) and is the third lowest for any quarter to date, the lowest being Q3 2024/25 (109,200 tonnes). Lower rate tonnage in Q2 2025/26 was the lowest for any quarter to date and 43% lower than in Q2 2024/25.
Background to SLfT
Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) is a tax on the disposal or unauthorised disposal of waste to landfill and is charged by weight. SLfT is a devolved tax, replacing UK landfill tax in Scotland only from 1 April 2015.
A document covering SLfT background information, data sources, methodology, quality, revisions policy and corrections has been published at SLfT statistics section on the Revenue Scotland website.
Further information about Scottish Landfill Tax and the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund is also available on the Revenue Scotland website.
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Enquiries
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
statistics@revenue.scot