- How exemptions work
- Already subject to Scottish Aggregates Tax
- Previously used in construction
- Stored on site prior to 1 April 2026
- Extraction necessary for construction work
- Dredging
- Spoil material
- Specific exempt aggregates
- Excepted processes
- Relevant substances
How exemptions work
Aggregate is taxable whenever it is ‘commercially exploited’, but there are certain conditions in which aggregate becomes exempt aggregate even though it has been commercially exploited. Commercially exploited aggregate is considered exempt aggregate and is not subject to Scottish Aggregates Tax if it:
- has already been subject to Scottish Aggregates Tax (and not later relieved from this tax)
- has previously been used in construction (recycled aggregate)
- was stored on another site prior to 1 April 2026, except where it is stored on another site of the registered operator
- is extracted as a necessary part of construction work
- has been dredged from a watercourse to create, maintain or improve that watercourse
- is wholly the spoil from separating a coal, lignite, slate or any ‘relevant substance’
- is wholly, or mainly, a specified substance
Further detail for each of the circumstances referred to above is provided below.
Already subject to Scottish Aggregates Tax
Aggregate is exempt if the aggregate has already been subject to Scottish Aggregates Tax, provided that there is no entitlement to a Scottish Aggregates Tax credit on the aggregate. This exemption also applies to aggregate subject to UK Aggregates Levy before the Scottish Aggregates Tax came into effect.
There are some circumstances where an exemption may be available even though a tax credit has been available:
- where the tax credit was less than the tax charged
- If a tax credit has been made available due to the use of aggregate in a prescribed Agricultural and Industrial Processes, then the exemption will still apply.
Previously used in construction
Where aggregate has previously been used for construction purposes it is exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax.
This could be construction or demolition waste that has been processed into recycled material.
Further detail on ‘construction purposes’ can be found in Commercial Exploitation – Used for Construction Purposes.
Stored on site prior to 1 April 2026
If aggregate has been stored on a site other than its originating site before the Scottish Aggregates Tax came into effect, it is exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax. However, if that other site is registered under the same operator, it will not be exempt and could still be commercially exploited.
Revenue Scotland may request records to support the exemption. These records should be sufficient to evidence that aggregate has been stored in this way prior to Scottish Aggregates Tax coming into effect.
Extraction necessary for construction work
If aggregate is wholly aggregate that has been extracted as a necessary part of the construction of any structure or infrastructure projects, it may be exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax. This extraction must be unavoidable and not for the purpose of obtaining that aggregate. Typically, this would be the foundations of a construction project but may include other activities.
This includes the modification, maintenance and improvement of structures and infrastructure.
This also includes projects where they are only at the proposal stage.
The excavations must be lawfully carried out and necessary for the construction, modification, maintenance or improvement of the structure or infrastructure in the project.
The aggregate must be removed from the ground on the immediate site of the structure.
For example, where test foundation holes have been excavated on a proposed site, and that material was not extracted for the purpose of it being used as a material in construction or an infrastructure project.
If this material extracted was then crushed to make concrete or used to help with the foundations for construction or infrastructure, the exemption would no longer apply.
Dredging
Aggregate removed from the bed of rivers, canals, port approaches or harbour approaches is exempt provided that it is removed exclusively to create, restore, improve or maintain the waterway.
Spoil material
Aggregate which is the spoil produced from the process of separating certain materials, is exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax. These materials are:
- coal (and various coal subtypes)
- lignite
- slate
- any of the relevant substances
Specific exempt aggregates
Aggregate that is wholly, or mainly one of the listed materials below is exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax. The materials are:
- coal (and various coal subtypes), lignite, slate
- the spoil or waste from industrial combustion processes or the smelting or refining of metal
- drill cuttings as a result of the production of petroleum under specific petroleum licences.
- clay, soil or vegetable or other organic matter
Excepted processes
Some materials resulting from processing aggregate remain taxable, while others do not. Spoil, waste, and by-products from ‘excepted processes’ remain taxable, but finished products are not. These finished products are not considered ‘aggregate’ for the purposes of Scottish Aggregates Tax and therefore are exempt from the tax.
The ‘excepted processes’ detailed above are:
- cutting of rock to produce stone with flat surfaces, such as dimension stone
- extracting or separating ‘relevant substances’ from aggregate
- producing lime or cement from limestone or limestone and anything else
- using shale for non-construction purposes (see Commercial Exploitation – Used for Construction Purposes)
Relevant substances
Aggregate which is the spoil produced from the process of separating relevant substances, is exempt from Scottish Aggregates Tax. These relevant substances are:
- anhydrite
- ball clay
- barytes
- china clay
- feldspar
- fireclay
- fluorspar
- fuller’s earth
- gems and semi-precious stones
- gypsum
- metal or metal ore
- muscovite
- perlite
- potash
- pumice
- rock phosphates
- sodium chloride
- talc
- vermiculite