Devolved Tax Guide -- Updated July 2026
Scottish Aggregates Tax Guide 2026/27
Scotland has taken over responsibility for taxing the commercial exploitation of rock, sand and gravel, replacing the UK Aggregates Levy north of the border. Here is what Scottish Aggregates Tax covers and who needs to account for it.
What Scottish Aggregates Tax Is
Scottish Aggregates Tax (SAT) is a devolved tax administered by Revenue Scotland, charged on the commercial exploitation of aggregate -- rock, sand and gravel -- extracted in Scotland, or brought into Scotland from a source that has not already accounted for the tax. It replaces the UK-wide Aggregates Levy for aggregate exploited in Scotland, following the devolution of legislative power for the tax to the Scottish Parliament under the Scotland Act. The UK Aggregates Levy, administered by HMRC, continues to apply to aggregate exploited in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Who Has to Register and Pay
Businesses that commercially exploit aggregate in Scotland -- typically quarry operators and aggregate producers, and in some cases importers of aggregate from unregistered sources -- generally need to register with Revenue Scotland, account for tax on taxable aggregate, and submit periodic returns, in broadly the same way operators previously dealt with the UK Aggregates Levy on Scottish sites before devolution took effect. Registration thresholds, return frequency and payment deadlines are set out in Revenue Scotland's published guidance, which operators should check directly given how new this tax is.
What Is Exempt
Mirroring the exemption structure of the UK Aggregates Levy it replaces, Scottish Aggregates Tax generally exempts categories such as aggregate that is a by-product of an unrelated industrial process, clay, soil, vegetable and other organic matter, aggregate used in specified exempt processes, and material extracted incidentally during construction, agricultural, or similar engineering works rather than being commercially sold as aggregate in its own right. The detailed exemption rules are technical and specific to the type of material and process involved, so operators should consult Revenue Scotland guidance for their exact circumstances.
How It Compares With the Rest of the UK
Scottish Aggregates Tax was designed to broadly track the UK Aggregates Levy rate at the point responsibility transferred to Scotland, but because it is now set by the Scottish Parliament rather than at Westminster, it can in principle diverge from the UK rate over time -- in the same way Scottish Income Tax bands and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax rates already differ from the rest of the UK. Always check Revenue Scotland's current published rate rather than assuming it matches the UK Aggregates Levy figure for any given year, since the two can move independently.
Why This Tax Was Devolved
The power to legislate for a devolved aggregates tax was included in the Scotland Act 2016 as part of a broader package of fiscal devolution that also delivered LBTT (replacing Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland) and Scottish Landfill Tax (replacing UK Landfill Tax). Aggregates Tax followed a similar path to Scottish Landfill Tax, being separately legislated for by the Scottish Parliament and administered by Revenue Scotland rather than HMRC, reflecting the Scottish Government's wider approach to environmental and resource-related devolved taxation.