LBTT Updates
16 December 2022 – ADS rate changed to 6%
The Scottish Government has introduced a change to the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) rate. For transactions entered into on, or after 16 December 2022, ADS will be charged at 6% of the relevant consideration for a transaction.
Draft LBTT returns
Please consult our guidance on draft returns, if you have started a draft tax return prior to 16 December 2022, where the effective date is on or after 16 December 2022.
28 January 2021 – Scottish Government publishes draft Scottish Budget 2021-22
The Scottish Government proposes that the temporary change to the residential LBTT nil-rate band introduced in July 2020 will end on 31 March 2021, as initially planned.
For transactions with an effective date from 1 April 2021 onwards, the ceiling of the nil-rate band for residential LBTT will return to £145,000. First-time buyers will continue to be able to claim the first-time buyer relief, which has the effect of raising the nil rate band to £175,000 and results in a reduction of tax of up to £600.
The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) rate will remain at 4%.
Existing non-residential LBTT rates and bands for conveyances and leases will remain unchanged. These rates and bands continue to be broadly competitive compared to the position across the rest of the UK and provide stability for businesses currently trading under difficult conditions.
21 August 2019 - Revenue Scotland publishes new LBTT Technical Bulletin
Revenue Scotland has published its latest LBTT Technical Bulletin which provides an update on its approach to daily penalties following the recent decision of the Upper Tribunal for Scotland (UTS).
The bulletin is available to download below. If you would like to be added to the distribution list for the bulletin, please contact info@revenue.scot.
LBTT Technical Update - 21 August 2019
LBTT Technical Update - 10 August 2018
LBTT Technical Update - 28 December 2017
LBTT Technical Update - 22 May 2017
LBTT Technical Update - 14 October 2016
7 June 2019 - Upgrade of SETS
Revenue Scotland is undertaking a programme of work to upgrade the online tax portal SETS. Further details are available in our FAQs.
Revenue Scotland updates online guidance and processes following introduction of First-Time Buyer Relief
Revenue Scotland has updated its guidance, systems and processes to allow the newly introduced First-Time Buyer Relief to be claimed. The updates follow the changes to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 introduced by The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (First-Time Buyer Relief) (Scotland) Order 2018 (‘The Order’) which came into effect from Saturday 30th June 2018.
The Order introduces tax relief for a first-time buyer acquiring ownership of a dwelling, provided certain conditions are met. The conditions are set out in the legislation and further explained in Revenue Scotland’s guidance.
The relief only applies to transactions where the contract is entered into on or after 9th February 2018 and the effective date of the transaction is on or after 30th June 2018. It is therefore not available for any transactions with an effective date prior to 30th June 2018.
Where due, the relief effectively raises the zero tax threshold for first-time buyers from £145,000 to £175,000. In addition, first-time buyers buying a property above £175,000 will qualify for relief on the portion of the price below the same threshold. This means that all first-time buyers who meet the qualifying conditions will benefit from relief of up to £600.
Revenue Scotland has updated its LBTT tax return form – available online and in paper form – to enable the relief to be claimed when a return is submitted. In addition, guidance and worked examples have been published to help anyone seeking information about the relief and how to claim it. The online tax calculator has also been updated to help calculate the amount of LBTT due.
To prepare for the changes Revenue Scotland consulted with stakeholders to ensure the new guidance, systems and processes meet stakeholder requirements.
Revenue Scotland Head of Tax Chris Myerscough said:
“The First-Time Buyer relief is one of a number of recent changes to LBTT that have required changes and additions to Revenue Scotland’s guidance, systems and processes. Identification of the necessary changes and additions has been carried out in consultation with our external stakeholders, including representatives from the Law Society of Scotland and CIOT. This assistance has been valuable as it enables us to ensure that the changes are fit for purpose and meet the needs of those who submit returns to us.
“We thank stakeholders for their input and support and welcome feedback from users of the guidance and the SETS system to enable us to improve them in future.”
First-Time Buyer relief queries should be emailed to lbtt@revenue.scot.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Relief from Additional Amount) (Scotland) Act 2018
The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Additional Amount – Second Homes Main residence Relief) (Scotland) Order 2017 (the “2017 Order”) amended the ADS rules around family units and replacing main residences with effect from 30 June 2017. The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Relief from Additional Amount) (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force on 23 June 2018 giving retrospective effect to the 2017 Order. This means that eligible transactions where the contract was entered into on or after 28 January 2016 and where the effective date of the transaction is on or after 1 April 2016 will now be able to claim a relief/repayment.
We have updated our legislative guidance at LBTT 10062A – Relief available for transactions involving spouses/civil partners/cohabitants on the effect of this legislation. The ADS repayment claim form has also been updated so that taxpayers and agents can make a claim to Revenue Scotland.
Revenue Scotland - ADS information leaflet - June 2018
Scottish Government publishes Draft 2018-19 Budget
The Scottish Government has today announced its Draft Budget for 2018-19.
This includes the intention to introduce a new relief on LBTT for first-time buyers in Scotland which increases the zero-rate threshold from the current level of £145,000 to £175,000. The Budget document sets out Scottish Government plans to launch a consultation on the LBTT policy proposals and this is expected to begin in January.
Scottish Parliament scrutinises LBTT Order
On 30 June 2017 the The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Additional Amount – Second Homes Main residence Relief) (Scotland) Order 2017 (‘the Order’) came into effect to amend the ADS rules on family units and replacing main residences. The changes introduced by this legislation applied only to transactions taking place with effect from 30 June 2017.
Draft legislation, in the form of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Relief from Additional Amount) (Scotland) Bill, was laid before Parliament on 13 November 2017. This legislation is designed to give retrospective effect to the Order. The Bill is subject to parliamentary scrutiny through the Finance and Constitution Committee. Until the Bill has been approved by Parliament and formally introduced, the rules under the Order will still apply to transactions which completed before 30 June 2017, or which completed after that date under a contract entered into before 20 May 2017.
The deadline for written responses to the Finance and Constitution Committee’s consultation closed on 19 January 2018.
Revenue Scotland will issue further guidance when the Bill is passed by Parliament, including details on how claims can be made for any tax which will have become repayable as a result of this new legislation.
Update to ADS rules on family units and replacing main residences
The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Additional Amount – Second Homes Main residence Relief) (Scotland) Order 2017 came in to effect on 30 June 2017 and amends the ADS rules on family units and replacing main residences. We have updated our legislative and ‘how to’ guidance on the effect of this legislation including a new page LBTT 10062A – Relief available for transactions involving spouses/civil partners/cohabitants.
23 September 2016 – LBTT Forum
The next Revenue Scotland LBTT Forum will take place at the Apex Grassmarket Hotel, Edinburgh, on 25 October 2016.
The event will be opened by Chief Executive Elaine Lorimer before separate sessions focusing on the Additional Dwelling Supplement six months on from its introduction and a technical spotlight highlighting recent legislative developments.
Spaces for the event are limited so we request that only one or two representatives from each organisation attends. You can book tickets through Eventbrite. Presentation slides and minutes will be made available to everyone after the event.
Further details about the event, including timings, are available in the agenda available on our website.
8 August 2016 – Interest rate change effects on Revenue Scotland
On 4 August 2016, the Bank of England announced a 0.25% decrease in the base interest rate. With effect from 10 August 2016, we have amended our rates accordingly. Please visit our penalties and interest pages for more information.
16 May 2016 – New guidance on caravans
We have published new guidance on 'what counts as a dwelling' which includes information on caravans.
1 April 2016 – ADS comes into force
The Tax Calculator has been updated to provide for ADS calculations, Legislative Guidance has been published and the ‘How To’ Guidance has been updated to provide instructions for those completing an LBTT return where the transaction applies.
16 March 2016 – ADS Guidance published
We have published a downloadable PDF version of the guidance. Further 'how to' guidance will be published before 1 April 2016.
9 March 2016 – Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS)
Stage 3 of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill took place in the Scottish Parliament yesterday (March 8). Following a debate, the Bill was passed unopposed. Further details are available on the Scottish Parliament website. Subject to Royal Assent, the policy will come into effect from 1 April. Revenue Scotland officials are now finalising the guidance for the Additional Dwellings Supplement that we will publish next week, with the updated online return form available from the date of implementation.
19 February 2016 – Additional Dwelling Supplement
We have published a range of FAQs related to the Additional Dwelling Supplement. Please visit our FAQs page to view them.
28 January 2016 – Draft Legislation Update
Information on the new LBTT supplement was published today. More information is available on our news page.
26 January 2016 – Change of bank account details
From 1 Feb we will be using a new bank account for all payments. Please see our 'how to pay' section for more information.
12 January 2016 – New Worked Examples for Leases
Six new worked examples for transitional leases were added to our LBTT guidance.
8 November 2015 – Open-ended Investment Companies (OEICs) relief and relief for alternative finance investment bonds
Pages on Open-ended Investment Companies (OEICs) relief and relief for alternative finance investment bonds were added to our LBTT guidance.
3 July 2015 – Transaction Balances Resolved
The '0' transaction balances issue has been resolved and users will be able to see the correct transaction balances from tomorrow (4 July 2015).
3 July 2015 – '0' Transaction Balances
We are aware that some portal users may notice that a ‘0’ balance is showing in the transactional balances column for returns already submitted despite not having made a payment. We apologise for any concern this is causing, we are still able to process payments so please continue to use our ‘how to pay’ guidance to make payments.
We are investigating the cause of this issue and will provide an update once it has been resolved.
26 May 2015 – Update of SETS completed
An update of the Revenue Scotland online portal (SETS) took place over the weekend of 22 – 25 May. This update has resolved the issue that Safari users were experiencing and also introduces Autosave functionality for users completing online returns (removing the need to manually click ‘save’ regularly) and also allows for attachments within the secure messaging feature.
LBTT users will also be interested to know that:
- The relevant date now stays populated when the draft is changed
- Agent details now pre-populate in the form
- Chrome users can now download tax returns from the portal.
28 April 2015 – Transaction Balances Issue – Resolved
Users should be aware that the transactions balances issue reported on the 17 April is now resolved. When full tax due has been paid, and cleared, the transaction balance will show as ‘0’.
17 April 2015 – Transaction Balances
We are aware that some portal users are noticing incorrect figures in the transactional balances column for returns already submitted. We apologise for any concern this is causing. All of the underlying accounting is working properly so this is an error in the figure displayed rather than any problem with the transactions.
There is no need for users to contact us about balances but our Support Desk staff are happy to help if there is any other difficulty about payments. We are investigating the cause of the incorrect transactional balance figures and will provide an update shortly.
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