Lease Transactions

Lease transaction general guidance

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) was introduced on 1 April 2015 and it may apply to anyone leasing non-residential land or property in Scotland. Where a notifiable lease has been granted on or after 1 April 2015 then an LBTT return must be submitted by the tenant.

Submitting a lease return or review

Find out how to submit a lease return and a further lease review return depending if you are an agent or a tenant without a solicitor or conveyancer.

Tenants without a solicitor or conveyancer

If you are a tenant you can submit your lease review, assignation or termination return  using our  online portal for taxpayers. This service should be used by tenant taxpayers only. You do not have to sign up to use the service. You will have 90 minutes to complete the return.

Submit a lease review return

The following information is required to complete your  LBTT lease return: 

  • the lease agreement, showing information such as the start and end dates of the lease
  • the transaction reference of the LBTT return originally submitted for the lease 
  • the effective date of the LBTT return originally submitted for the lease
  • a recalculation of the total LBTT payable on the lease
  • how much LBTT has already been paid on the lease 

If you need help completing the return then follow the step-by-step guidance on how to submit an online lease return review for tenants.

Note: We currently don't provide an online service for taxpayers without a solicitor or conveyancer who need to submit a first-time lease return.

Agents and solicitors

Agents and solicitors can submit a lease return or reviews using the Scottish Electronic Tax System (SETS). This service can only be used by organisations and users registered in the SETS system. This option is not available to private individuals acting in an individual capacity.

We have created a step-by-step guidance for agents on how to submit a first time LBTT lease return and reviews using the SETS system. View guidance on:

Failure to submit a return or pay tax on time

LBTT is a self-assessed tax and it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to complete and submit an accurate LBTT return and, where required, pay any tax due.

A tenant (or in the case of an assignation, the assignor) who fails to submit or pay on time is liable to a penalty. Interest will also be charged on the amount of any unpaid tax from the submission date until the date it is paid.

For more information on penalties see: