Key points
- £11.2 million in Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) was declared payable for the latest quarter, October to December 2024 (Q3, 2024/25). Total standard rate tonnage was 109,200 and total lower rate tonnage was 129,800.
- The total SLfT declared due in Q3 of 2024/25 is the lowest of any quarter. This is consistent with the long-term trend for declining SLfT declared due, resulting from the decreasing tonnage of standard rate taxable waste.
- The tonnage of both standard and lower rate waste this quarter were also the lowest of any Q3, with standard rate tonnage being at its lowest ever.
- 24 operators provided returns for the latest quarter, covering 43 sites. Note that some sites may submit a nil return some quarters. 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.
SLfT Payable by quarter
SLfT was £11.2 million during the last quarter, 22% lower than the previous quarter (£14.4m).
Figure 1: Column chart showing SLfT declared by quarter. An additional line shows the 4 quarter moving average for SLfT declared due.
SLfT in Q3 of 2024/25 was the lowest for any quarter on record (£11.2m). In seven of the nine previous financial years, Q3 has been the lowest or second lowest quarter for SLfT declared due; 2024/25 is also following this pattern.
Total SLfT for the first three quarters of 2024/25 is £41.7m, which is 26% (£15m) lower than the first three quarters of the previous financial year. This is less than half of the SLfT declared due for the first three quarters of any year prior to 2023/24, with the exception of 2020/21, which was still only just short of being twice as high (£80.8m).
Tonnage by quarter
Standard rate tonnage was 25% lower than the previous quarter and lower rate tonnage was 14% lower.
Figure 2: Line chart showing standard and lower rate tonnages by quarter.
Standard rate tonnage in Q3 of 2024/25 was 109,200, which is the lowest of any quarter on record. Lower rate tonnage was 129,800, which is tied with Q3 of 2023/24 as the lowest for any Q3, and is also tied as the fourth lowest for any quarter on record.
Total waste tonnage in the first three quarters of 2024/25 is 851,200, which is 19% lower than in the first three quarters of the previous year (1,051,900). This is also less than half of the total tonnage of the first three quarters of every financial year from 2018/19 (1,886,800) back to 2015/16 (2,186,300).
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