The revaluation of council tax bands: More than rearranging the deck chairs

The article contributes to debate on the future of the council tax by focusing on the revaluation of council tax bands. Originally, no revaluations were foreseen and as yet none has occurred in Britain.The article argues there is a strong equity argument for frequent revaluations. An assessment of the potential impact of a revaluation is undertaken for a sample area of II local authority areas in Scotland. This research finds that, while addressing the equity issue, a revaluation is likely to create more disruption to local government, personal finances and the housing market than revaluations within a capital value-based tax system. © The Policy Press, 2006.