Scottish Borders Council Tax Debt Help

Struggling With Scottish Borders Council Tax?

The Scottish Borders runs from the Tweed valley and the Lammermuir Hills down to the English border, a large rural area of market towns and farming country. It takes in the mill towns of Galashiels and Hawick, Peebles and Selkirk, Kelso, Jedburgh and Melrose, and Duns and the fishing port of Eyemouth in Berwickshire. With household budgets already stretched, an 8.5% council tax rise for 2026-27 is felt across the region. Wherever you live in the Borders, the way council tax is billed and collected is the same, and if you have fallen behind, there are clear ways out. This page explains how the council operates, who it uses to recover arrears, and how to get a debt back under control before it reaches a wage arrestment.

How we can help:

• We deal with the council and its sheriff officers for you
• We help you agree a realistic, affordable payment plan
• We set out every debt solution open to Scottish Borders residents
• We can help stop or avoid a wage arrestment
• Free, confidential help, with no obligation

Watch: how council tax recovery and sheriff action works in Scotland, and how to stop it.

About Scottish Borders Council

Scottish Borders Council is the unitary local authority for the south-east of Scotland, one of Scotland’s 32 councils. National Records of Scotland estimates its population at 116,800 on 30 June 2025, a slight fall from 117,190 a year earlier. Its main towns are Galashiels, Hawick, Peebles, Kelso, Selkirk, Jedburgh, Eyemouth, Duns and Melrose.

The council’s headquarters is at Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA, and council tax is handled by its Customer Advice and Support Service. The valuation band on your home is set by the Assessor for the Scottish Borders, not by the council’s council tax team.

Scottish Borders council tax contact details

These are the council’s main contact points for council tax. If you are going to miss a payment, the council asks you to tell it, and it is far better to do that early than to wait for a reminder.

You can pay by Direct Debit, online, by phone or in person, and sign up for text or email payment reminders. If ringing the council yourself feels difficult, we can speak to the council for you and help set up an arrangement.

Council tax in the Scottish Borders

Council tax is an annual charge on domestic property, set each year by Scottish Borders Council. What you pay depends on the valuation band of your home, which reflects its value on 1 April 1991 and is set by the Assessor, not by the council. Your bill also includes separate water and wastewater charges, which the council collects on behalf of Scottish Water.

Bills are issued in spring for the year that begins on 1 April, and are normally paid in 10 instalments on the first of each month from April to January. If you want to understand the wider system, who is liable and how billing works, see our guides to council tax in Scotland, council tax liability and billing and collection.

Scottish Borders council tax bands and charges 2026-27

For 2026-27, Scottish Borders Council increased council tax by 8.5%, agreed on 19 February 2026, taking the Band D council tax from £1,491.72 to £1,618.52. The council says it has always had one of the lowest council tax rates in mainland Scotland and will remain so. The table below shows the council tax element on its own and then the full total once the Scottish Water charges are added. Band D is the standard reference band.

The council tax column is the Scottish Borders Council charge on its own, and the right-hand column adds the standard Scottish Water charges to give the full bill. If you think your home is in the wrong band, you can check it on the Scottish Assessors website and, in limited circumstances, ask for a review, though a review can move a band up as well as down. Our council tax valuation guide explains how bands and challenges work.

Reductions, discounts and second homes

First, make sure your bill is as low as it should be.

• Council Tax Reduction (CTR): a means-tested reduction of up to 100% for people on a low income. The quickest way to apply is online through the council’s claims portal, with paper forms for anyone who cannot. CTR reduces the council tax element only, not the water and wastewater charges, which have their own separate reduction.
• Single person discount (25%): if you are the only adult in the property, you can claim a 25% reduction.
• Disabled band reduction: if a resident needs an extra room, an additional bathroom or space to use a wheelchair indoors because of a disability, the bill can be charged one band lower. See our disabled band reduction guide.
• Other discounts and exemptions: students, school leavers, apprentices, care leavers, carers and people with a severe mental impairment can be disregarded, and some properties are exempt. Our council tax discounts guide explains who qualifies.

The council has raised the charges on second and empty homes sharply. From 1 April 2026, a second home is charged 225% of the normal council tax, and a home that has been empty for 12 months or more is charged 300%. There are discounts for empty homes needing structural work, homes being actively marketed for sale or let (for up to 24 months) and new owners carrying out repairs. Water and wastewater charges are not affected. If you are charged a premium you do not think applies, raise it with the council straight away. Our empty dwellings guide explains the rules.

Business rates in the Scottish Borders

Business rates, or non-domestic rates, are the commercial equivalent of council tax and are billed by Scottish Borders Council. The rate itself, the poundage, is set nationally by the Scottish Government and is the same across the country. Your bill is the rateable value of your premises multiplied by the poundage.

For 2026-27 the Scottish Government set three rates:

Many small businesses on Borders high streets pay little or nothing through the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which can give 100% relief on a single property with a rateable value up to £12,000, with tapered relief up to £20,000. Other reliefs, including charity, empty property and Fresh Start relief, may also apply. The council’s recovery policy applies the same stages to business rates as to council tax, ending in a summary warrant that adds a 10% surcharge.

Which sheriff officers does Scottish Borders Council use?

When council tax or business rates go unpaid and a summary warrant has been granted, Scottish Borders Council passes the account to sheriff officers to collect. Sheriff officers are officers of the court, not private bailiffs, and their powers are set by Scottish law.

The council’s council tax privacy notice states that where council tax debt is subject to a summary warrant, it uses its debt management partners:

• Walker Love, a long-established Scottish sheriff officer firm.
• Scott & Co, the firm the council refers to as Scott and Company.

The Borders is served by the sheriff courts at Jedburgh and Selkirk, in the sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders. The old courts at Duns and Peebles have closed, with their areas moved to Jedburgh and Selkirk respectively. If either firm has contacted you about a Borders debt, our dedicated guides set out who they are, the enforcement they can use, the fees they can add and how to stop them. You can also see every firm that acts for Scottish councils on our sheriff officers and council tax hub.

What happens if you fall behind in the Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders Council publishes its own recovery policy, which follows the standard Scottish process:

1. Reminder notice. Miss an instalment and the council sends a reminder giving you 7 days to bring the account up to date.
2. Final notice and loss of instalments. If it is still not paid, you can lose the right to pay by instalments, and the full year’s balance becomes due.
3. Summary warrant. The council applies to the sheriff court for a summary warrant. There is no court hearing, and a statutory 10% penalty is added to what you owe.
4. Passed to the sheriff officers. Your account goes to Walker Love or Scott & Co, and the policy says you will be given the chance to agree a payment arrangement with them. They can serve a charge for payment, giving you 14 days to pay (28 if you are outside the UK).
5. Enforcement. If you do not pay or keep to an arrangement, they can use an earnings (wage) arrestment, after giving you a debt advice and information package, or a bank arrestment, which protects the first £1,000. The council can also ask for deductions from benefits.

The same policy gives you room before it gets that far. Customer advisers can offer to spread Direct Debit payments over 12 months instead of 10, or set up a revised instalment plan by Direct Debit that clears the balance by the end of the financial year. You can offer payment at any stage, and the council keeps the right to agree arrangements itself.

What to do if the council contacts you about arrears

Whether the letter comes from the council or from Walker Love or Scott & Co, the sensible steps are the same.

1. Open it and act. Council tax arrears do not go away, and ignoring letters only moves the debt further along the recovery process.
2. Check it is right. Make sure the debt is yours, for the correct property and year, and that any discount, exemption or Council Tax Reduction you are due has been applied.
3. Ask for identification. A genuine sheriff officer carries a formal identity document, and you are entitled to see it before you deal with them.
4. Do not overcommit. Only agree to what you can genuinely afford, because a broken arrangement usually leads straight to a wage arrestment.
5. Get advice and set up a plan. A realistic arrangement, the Debt Arrangement Scheme or another solution is what actually stops enforcement.

If dealing with the council or its sheriff officers feels overwhelming, we can take it on for you with your permission and help you reach something affordable.

Solutions if you are struggling with Scottish Borders council tax debt

The most effective way to deal with sheriff officers is to resolve the arrears behind the enforcement. Depending on your circumstances, the main routes for Borders residents are:

• Special Payment Arrangement: an affordable plan put to the council or its sheriff officers. Whether it is accepted is the council’s decision.
• Debt Arrangement Scheme: once a Debt Payment Programme is approved, an earnings arrestment is recalled.
• Trust deed: a protected trust deed ends an earnings arrestment from the date of protection.

Not sure which fits your situation? See our wage arrestment solutions overview, or get in touch and we will talk it through, free and with no obligation.

Free debt advice in the Scottish Borders

Alongside our service, Citizens Advice has offices across the Borders, all listed by the council. You never need to pay for good council tax debt advice.

• Central Borders Citizens Advice (Galashiels): free money, debt and benefits advice, including council tax debt, on 01896 753889.
• Peebles: 01721 721722.
• Hawick: 01450 374266. Kelso: 01573 223516.
• Duns: 01361 883340. Eyemouth: 01890 750500.
• National Debtline: free confidential telephone debt advice, on 0808 808 4000.
• StepChange Debt Charity: free national debt advice, on 0800 138 1111.

These services are independent and free. We work alongside this kind of support and can help you take the practical steps that stop enforcement.

Scottish Borders Council at a glance

Where to find free, impartial information

As well as speaking to us, you can check your rights with these independent, official sources:

• Scottish Borders Council: Council Tax
• mygov.scot: Council Tax (Scottish Government)
• mygov.scot: Sheriff officer powers and your rights
• Citizens Advice Scotland: Debt and money
• mygov.scot: Non-domestic rates guidance

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