145 grants and tax reliefs available across Scotland, from national UK-wide schemes to your local council's own schemes.
Department for Work and Pensions
Grant funding practical, workplace-based support for disabled people and those with a long-term health condition — e.g. specialist equipment, a support worker or job coach, BSL interpreters, travel costs, or mental health support — to help them start, stay in, or move into work in England, Scotland or Wales.
Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council grant helping property owners and tenants upgrade and repurpose vacant commercial properties in the area's city and town centres, bringing them back into use as commercial, community, or residential premises.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Personal Independence Payment — the main disability benefit for working-age adults resident in Scotland, covering the extra costs of a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets a business deduct the full cost of qualifying plant and machinery — up to £1 million a year — from taxable profits in the year it's bought, rather than spreading the relief out over several years. Available to sole traders, partnerships, and companies alike, though some rules apply where connected businesses share the same allowance.
HM Revenue & Customs
Corporation Tax expenditure credit for UK film, high-end TV, children's TV, and animation production costs, replacing the separate Film Tax Relief, High-End TV Tax Relief, Animation Tax Relief, and Children's TV Tax Relief for new productions. Since 1 April 2025, qualifying independent films with budgets up to £15 million can opt in to an enhanced rate — the Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) — worth 53% rather than the standard 34%.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A tax-free lump sum followed by up to 18 further monthly payments for people whose husband, wife, or civil partner has died, replacing the older Widowed Parent's Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and Bereavement Payment. Paid regardless of your own income or savings, based on your late partner's National Insurance record.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Healthy Start — a payment card helping low-income pregnant women and families with children under 3 in Scotland buy healthy food, at more generous rates and with materially higher uptake than the rest of the UK.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved, more generous replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant: three separate one-off payments for low-income families as a child grows, rather than England/Wales/Northern Ireland's single £500 payment. Pregnancy and Baby Payment: £796.65 for a first child, or £398.35 for each subsequent child, claimable from the 25th week of pregnancy until the baby turns 6 months old. Early Learning Payment: £331.95 per child, claimable while the child is aged between 2 and 3 years 6 months. School Age Payment: £331.95 per child, claimable during the year the child first becomes eligible to start primary school. Families can apply for all three using the same form; each is assessed and paid separately. (2026/27 rates, confirmed directly on mygov.scot in this pass.)
HM Revenue & Customs
Adds an extra £3,250 tax-free (2026/27) on top of your standard Personal Allowance if you're registered blind or severely sight impaired. Registration routes differ slightly by nation — England and Wales use blind or severely sight impaired registration, while Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own separate registration processes — but the allowance itself is claimed the same way, by telling HMRC directly.
Local councils (England, Scotland, Wales); Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)
UK-wide disabled parking permit scheme letting badge holders park closer to their destination, including in restricted on-street bays and some pay-and-display bays for free. Not a cash payment, but a real, practical, and widely-used entitlement.
Inverclyde Council
Inverclyde Council grant reimbursing up to 50% of eligible capital expenditure for established local businesses, delivered through Business Gateway Inverclyde following a one-to-one adviser consultation.
West Dunbartonshire Council
Smaller-scale match-funded grant from West Dunbartonshire Council for established businesses (i.e. not start-ups) undertaking a project that safeguards or creates local jobs.
North Lanarkshire Council
North Lanarkshire Council grant, delivered via Business Gateway Lanarkshire, funding capital expenditure, infrastructure improvement, workforce/skills development, or exhibition support for SMEs in the council's priority sectors.
East Dunbartonshire Council
Discretionary grant of up to £1,500 for East Dunbartonshire businesses to help them grow, covering costs incurred in line with a development plan prepared together with a Business Gateway adviser. Award size depends on the agreed plan, up to that maximum, and is open to any business based and trading in East Dunbartonshire.
East Renfrewshire Council
Match-funded grant for small businesses, social enterprises, and self-employed people trading from East Renfrewshire premises, covering new equipment, property expansion or improvement, and costs of exhibiting or developing new products and processes.
West Dunbartonshire Council
Flat-rate £500 grant from West Dunbartonshire Council towards the costs of starting a new business, for individuals aged 18 or over putting together a business plan and taking their first steps into trading. Applicants need a business bank account and proof of identification, and can get planning advice from the council's Business Support team ahead of applying.
East Ayrshire Council
Grant reimbursing 50% of eligible start-up costs for East Ayrshire businesses trading 12 months or less, covering marketing, signage, training, trade show travel, accreditations, software, and product development.
The Highland Council
Flat-rate £1,000 grant delivered by Business Gateway Highland on behalf of The Highland Council to help individuals turn a business idea into a trading business, open to all sectors and business types across the Highland Council area.
Midlothian Council
Grant of up to £2,000 from Midlothian Council's Economic Development team, delivered with Business Gateway Midlothian support, to help newly trading Midlothian businesses fund market development, ICT, capital expenditure, or new products and services.
Clackmannanshire Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed capital grant for Clackmannanshire businesses investing in IT/digital infrastructure or premises improvements, with preference given to projects that create jobs or work-experience opportunities.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax relief for employees who have to buy more substantial or expensive equipment for their job than the 'small tools' covered by the flat-rate uniform/tools expense — claimed as a capital allowance on the cost rather than a flat rate.
HM Revenue & Customs
The amount of profit you can make from selling assets like shares or property each year before Capital Gains Tax is due — currently £3,000 for individuals and £1,500 for most trusts. Like the Dividend Allowance, this has shrunk considerably in recent years, down from £12,300 in 2022/23, so gains that would once have been tax-free may now trigger a bill.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Carer's Allowance, for unpaid carers resident in Scotland who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit. Pays the same £86.45/week base rate as Carer's Allowance, plus a weekly Scottish Carer Supplement worth £11.70/week from 15 March 2026 — a combined maximum around £98.15/week before any extra Carer Additional Person Payment for carers supporting more than one person. Existing Carer's Allowance claimants in Scotland were transferred across automatically; new applicants apply directly to Social Security Scotland.
HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Work and Pensions
A National Insurance credit (not a cash payment) for carers who provide 20+ hours/week of care but don't qualify for, or don't want to claim, Carer's Allowance — protects your State Pension record from gaps caused by caring.