How to make an online LBTT lease review return (tenants)

How to make an online LBTT lease review return (tenants)

This guidance is for reference only until the new online return form is available.

 

Purpose of this guidance

This guidance will help you (the tenant) make an online Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) lease review return. Separate guidance is available on ‘How to pay LBTT’, including BACS/CHAPS payment arrangements.

This is not guidance about the tax itself. LBTT legislation guidance for taxpayers and agents is available separately on our website. Where we refer to further guidance, for example ‘see LBTT1001’, we mean references to that guidance.

Practical guidance about how to complete the return is also available by clicking on the information bubble next to each question.

 

It is the tenant’s responsibility to ensure the LBTT return is complete and accurate. If you are unsure about any matter relating to the LBTT return you should seek professional advice.

Note: If there are two or more tenants, you must complete a paper LBTT return. The paper LBTT lease review return can be downloaded from the ‘Submit a return’ section of our website.

All references in this guidance to:

  • LBTT(S)A 2013 means The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 (as amended);
  • ‘tenant’ means the buyer as defined in section 7 of the LBTT(S)A 2013;
  • ‘landlord’ means the seller as defined in section 7 of the LBTT(S)A 2013;
  • ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means Revenue Scotland;
  • ‘you’ means the person making the LBTT return (either as the tenant or the tenant’s agent);
  • ‘original return/transaction’ means the first LBTT return submitted when the lease was granted, or when it became notifiable for the first time.

Protection of information

We will protect and handle any information that you provide us with in your tax return with care. For further information please see our Privacy Policy and guidance on taxpayer information (Chapter 9 of The Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 legislation guidance).

General guidance on accessing and completing the LBTT lease review return

The LBTT lease review return for tenants can be accessed via the ‘Submit a lease review return’ page on the Revenue Scotland website.

This return should only be used by tenants. Agents submitting lease review returns on behalf of tenants should use the SETS online portal.

Key information you will need to complete this return

To complete this return, you will need the following information:

  • The lease agreement, showing information such as the start and end dates of the lease;
  • Transaction reference of the LBTT return original LBTT return submitted for the lease;
  • Effective date of the LBTT return original LBTT return submitted for the lease;
  • A recalculation of the total LBTT payable on the lease.  Please consult our guidance on how to calculate tax on a lease review before using the LBTT on Lease Transactions Calculator;
  • How much LBTT has already been paid on the lease.

Once you have requested access to the return, you must complete it within 90 minutes.

You cannot save a draft or amend the return so it is important to ensure that you have all the key information, as listed above, to hand before you access the return.

Information on how to amend an LBTT lease review return can be found towards the end of this guidance.

Note: We do not accept amendments to returns over the phone.

Accessing the return - Step 1

 

Enter your email address and full name, then press ‘OK’.

 

You will receive a notification that we have sent you an email with a link to the LBTT lease review return.

Accessing the return - Step 2

Go to your inbox and open the email from 'no-reply@revenue.scot' with the subject 'Lease review return – online submission’.

You may need to check your spam folder if the email does not appear in your inbox.

 

Click on ‘Confirmation Request link’ to access the LBTT lease review return.

You have 90 minutes from the email being sent to access and complete the return.

About the Transaction

 

Transaction reference of the original return

You must answer this question.

Enter the transaction reference of the LBTT return that was originally submitted for this lease.  This should be entered in the following format - ‘RSXXXXXXX’.

Is this return for a Three-yearly review, Assignation or Termination?

You must answer this question.

Select the radio button to indicate the event for which this return is being completed  (see LBTT6014 and LBTT6017).

Effective date of original transaction

You must answer this question.

Enter the effective date of the original transaction, as stated in the LBTT return that was originally submitted for this lease, by using the calendar or manually entering it in ‘DD/MM/YYYY’ format,

Except where the original LBTT return was submitted under any of the following provisions:

In these cases, the ‘Relevant Date’ of the originally submitted LBTT return should be entered instead of the ‘Effective Date’.

Relevant Date

You must answer this question.

Enter the ‘relevant date’ for the transaction (as defined under section 36(3) of the LBTT(S)A 2013) by using the calendar or manually entering it in ‘DD/MM/YYYY’ format. The ‘relevant date’ in relation to each of the three different provisions under which a LBTT lease review return is required is:

About the Tenant

 

Note: If there are two or more tenants, you must complete a paper LBTT return. The paper LBTT lease review return can be downloaded from the ‘Submit a return’ section of our website.

This section is divided into two sub-sections:

Type of Tenant

You must answer this question.

Select the option which is most relevant to the tenant.

Note: For these purposes Private Individuals and Representatives includes partnerships, and Incorporated Bodies includes unincorporated associations, charities and unit trusts. The option you choose will automatically update the return to only display the set of questions relevant to that option. Where there is more than one tenant, you must answer this question each time you use the ‘Add’ option, and you can include a mixture of both ‘Private Individuals and Representatives’ and ‘Incorporated Bodies’ Tenants.

Questions for the 'Private Individuals and Representatives' sub-section

Title

From the drop-down list select the relevant title (if any) of the tenant.

Tenant surname

You must answer this question.

Enter the surname (family name) of the tenant.

Tenant first name(s)

Enter the first and middle name(s) (or non-family name) of the tenant.

Telephone number

Enter a daytime telephone number that can be used to contact the tenant.

National Insurance number (Tenant 1), if you have one (this question is not displayed for additional tenants)

You must answer either the National Insurance Number (NINO) question or the following (non-UK tax reference) question.

Note: if you answer the NINO question, the answer field for the following (non-UK tax reference) question will be greyed out.

Answer this question if the tenant is an individual. Give the correct NINO for the tenant – we will not accept a temporary NINO.

If the tenant does not have a NINO then answer the question below.

If tenant (1) has no UK reference, give a tax reference from the country in which tenant (1) is based (this information is not required for additional tenants)

You must answer either this question or the previous (NINO) question.

Note: if you answer this (non-UK tax reference) question, the answer field for the previous (NINO) question will be greyed out.

If the tenant is based in the UK you should only answer this question if the tenant does not have a NINO.

If you are not able to give a non-UK tax reference for a non-UK based tenant or a NINO number for a UK-based tenant we will accept the following:

  • Passport Number;
  • Driving Licence Number; or
  • another recognised ID reference e.g. Child Benefit Number (if the tenant is aged under 16).

Country where ID was issued (this question is not displayed for additional tenants)

If you answered the (non-UK tax reference) previous question then you must answer this question.

Note: the answer field for this question will be greyed out until you have entered details for the previous (non-UK tax reference) question.

Enter the name of the country where the non-UK tax reference, Passport Number, Driving Licence Number or other recognised ID was issued.

Is the Tenant acting as a private individual?

You must answer this question.

Answer ‘Yes’ if the tenant is acting in an individual capacity and not acting on behalf of any group of individuals, for example a trust, partnership or a company.

Note: If you answer ‘No’, you must answer the ‘Is the Tenant acting as a trustee?’ and ‘Is the Tenant acting as representative partner?’ questions below.

Address

You must answer this question.

Enter the current address of the tenant, including the house (or office) name and number and postcode. You must also enter the name of the country to which the address relates. This is the address we will use if we need to correspond with the tenant involved in this transaction.

Is the Tenant acting as a trustee?

You must answer this question if you answered ‘No’ to the ‘Is the Tenant acting as a private individual?’ question.

Answer ‘Yes’ if the tenant is acting as a trustee (see LBTT8001).

Is the Tenant acting as representative partner?

You must answer this question if you answered ‘No’ to the ‘Is the Tenant acting as a private individual?’ question.

Answer ‘Yes’ if the tenant is acting on behalf of a partnership, is the representative partner as defined in paragraph 9 of schedule 17 to the LBTT(S)A 2013 and notice of the nomination has been given to us (see LBTT7004).

Name of Partnership or Trust

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to either the ‘Is the Tenant acting as a trustee?’ or ‘Is the Tenant acting as representative partner?’ questions then enter the name of the relevant trust or partnership.

Are the Tenant(s) and Landlord(s) connected?

You must answer this question for all tenants.

Enter ‘Yes’ if the tenant and landlord are connected persons as defined under section 58 of the LBTT(S)A 2013. Connected persons include:

  • a spouse or civil partner;
  • relatives and their spouse or civil partner;
  • relatives of a spouse’s or civil partner’s relatives and their spouse or civil partner;
  • if the tenant or landlord are in business in a partnership, the business partners and their spouses or civil partners and their relatives;
  • a company that the tenant or landlord controls, either by themself or with any of the persons listed above; or
  • the trustees of a settlement of which the tenant or landlord is a settlor, or of which a person who is still alive and who is connected with them as a settlor.

‘Relative’ in this context means brother, sister, ancestor or lineal descendant.

A company is connected with another company:

  • if the same person has control of both companies, or a person has control of one and persons connected with him (or he and persons connected with him) have control of the other; or
  • if a group of two or more persons have control of each company, and the groups either consist of the same persons or could be regarded as consisting of the same persons by treating (in one or more cases) a member of either group as replaced by a person with whom he is connected.

Note: For these purposes a company includes a body corporate or unincorporated association.

Questions for the 'Incorporated Bodies' sub-section

Legal Name

You must answer this question.

Enter the registered legal name of the tenant.

Trading Name (if different)

If the trading name of the tenant is different from the ‘Legal Name’, enter the trading name of the tenant.

Company Number

You must answer either this question or the following ‘Charity Number’ question. Only one of these questions can be answered - if you answer the latter, this question will be greyed out.

Enter the company registration number (CRN) if the company is registered at Companies House.

Enter the Local Authority number, or N/A for other public bodies.

Charity Number

You must answer either this question or the preceding ‘Company Number’ question (note: if you are claiming charities relief you must answer this question). Only one of these questions can be answered - if you answer the latter, this question will be greyed out.

Enter the charity number if the tenant is a registered charity.

Governing Law / Jurisdiction

Enter the name of the country where the company is registered.

Is the Tenant acting as a trustee?

You must answer this question if you answered ‘No’ to the ‘Is the Tenant acting as a private individual?’ question.

Answer ‘Yes’ if the tenant is acting as a trustee.

Are the Tenant(s) and Landlord(s) connected?

You must answer this question.

Enter ‘Yes’ if the tenant and landlord are connected persons as defined under section 58 of the LBTT(S)A 2013

A company is connected with another company:

  • if the same person has control of both, or a person has control of one and persons connected with him (or he and persons connected with him) have control of the other; or
  • if a group of two or more persons have control of each company, and the groups either consist of the same persons or could be regarded as consisting of the same persons by treating (in one or more cases) a member of either group as replaced by a person with whom he is connected.

Note: For these purposes a company includes a body corporate or unincorporated association.

Connected persons include:

  • a spouse or civil partner;
  • relatives and their spouse or civil partner;
  • relatives of a spouse’s or civil partner’s relatives and their spouse or civil partner;
  • if the tenant or landlord are in business in a partnership, the business partners and their spouses or civil partners and their relatives;
  • a company that the tenant or landlord controls, either by themself or with any of the persons listed above; or
  • the trustees of a settlement of which the tenant or landlord is a settlor, or of which a person who is still alive and who is connected with them as a settlor.

‘Relative’ in this context means brother, sister, ancestor or lineal descendant.

Address

You must answer this question.

Enter the current address, including the house (or office) name and number and postcode. You must also enter the name of the country to which the address relates. This is the address we will use if we need to correspond with the tenant(s) involved in this transaction.

About the New Tenant

 

The section will only be enabled if you have a have selected ‘Assignation’ on the ‘About the Transaction’ section of the return.

Title

From the drop-down list select the relevant title (if any) of the tenant.

Name

You must answer this question.

If the new tenant is a private individual enter their first name and surname.

If the new tenant is not a private individual, enter the name of the business, charity, trust, etc.

Address

You must answer this question.

Enter the address of the new tenant after the effective date of the land transaction, including the house (or office) name and number and postcode. You must also enter the name of the country to which the address relates. This is the address we will use if we need to correspond with the new tenant who the lease has been assigned to.

Telephone number

Enter a daytime telephone number that can be used to contact the new tenant.

About the Property

 

Note: If the land transaction involves two or more properties,  go to the ‘List of Additional Properties’ area near the bottom of the screen and select ‘Add’ each time you need to add an additional property (there are no limits to the number of properties that can be added). You can edit or delete the information about any additional properties by selecting ‘Edit’ and ‘Delete’ respectively.

Local authority number

You must answer this question.

From the drop-down list select the local authority in whose area the property in the transaction is situated. If a property straddles a local authority boundary enter the code for the local authority in which most of the property falls.

Title Number

Note: Only complete this question if you know the full title number.

Firstly, from the drop-down list select the appropriate county code for the property’s title number e.g. for Aberdeen select ‘ABN’.

Secondly, in the free-text field to the right of the county code enter the property’s title number (if known).

Parent Title Number

Note: Only complete this question if you know the full parent title number.

If you do not know the title number of the property it is possible that it forms part of a larger area. Where this is the case, firstly select from the drop-down list the appropriate county code for the property’s parent title number e.g. for Aberdeen select ‘ABN’.

Secondly, in the free-text field to the right of the county code enter the parent title number(s) to which the property relates.

Address

You must answer this question.

Enter the full postal address of the property, including where possible the house (or office) name, the house (or office) number and the postcode. Where there is no recognised postal address, enter a description of the property.

About the Lease

Start date as specified in lease

You must answer this question.

Enter the contractual start date of the lease as stated in the lease.

End date as specified in lease

You must answer this question.

Enter the contractual end date of the lease as stated in the lease.

If you are completing the lease review return upon termination of the lease, please enter the date the lease ended.

Typical annual rent of lease, including VAT where applicable

You must answer this question.

Enter the average annual rent (ignoring any rent-free periods) in pounds sterling under the terms of the lease, including any VAT payable on the rent.

Total premium (grassum) payable, including VAT where applicable

Enter the amount of any premium paid on the grant of the lease, plus any additional premiums paid, or to be paid, since the last return was submitted.

Relevant rental figure, including VAT where applicable

Enter the relevant rental figure under the terms of the lease. This is the annual rent in relation to the transaction in question or, if that transaction is one of a number of linked transactions for which the chargeable consideration consists of or includes rent, it is the total of the annual rents in relation to all of those transactions. See paragraph 9 of schedule 19 to the LBTT(S)A 2013 and LBTT6012.

Net present value upon which tax on rent is calculated

You must answer this question.

Enter the Net Present Value (NPV). To calculate the NPV apply the formula in paragraph 6 of schedule 19 to the LBTT(S)A 2013 or see LBTT6011. Our website also has an online tax calculator to help you work this figure out.

To calculate the NPV on a lease review return, you should use:

  • The actual amount of rent paid in each of the years preceding the review date; and
  • The actual amount of rent payable for each year in the remaining term.If the amount of rent to be paid varies in accordance with the provisions of the lease (for example, where there are rent reviews or in turnover leases), then a reasonable estimate should be provided (see LBTT6005).

Total tax already paid

You must answer this question.

Enter the total amount of LBTT already paid on this lease to date, taking account of any adjustments made on previously submitted review returns.

About the Calculation

 

Assistance with the calculation can be found by selecting ‘Calculate’ in the ‘Calculate tax payable’ box which will display the total tax payable based on the information you have entered elsewhere in the LBTT return. Please note however that because LBTT is a self-assessed tax the tenant is ultimately responsible for the amount entered against this question. While we have provided the ‘calculate tax payable’ function for your assistance, we take no responsibility for your use of it in answering this question.

Amount due for this return

This field will be pre-populated but the figure is editable. This figure should equal the amount of LBTT payable on the lease after deducting any reliefs claimed and tax already paid.

Declaration

If after having read the declaration statement you are content to give your agreement to it, you must declare this by selecting the check-box beside the statement.

You cannot submit and make an LBTT return without completing  the declaration statement.

Where legislation requires more than one person to make the declaration, you must do this by making a paper LBTT return.

Once you have completed the declaration statement, you will be presented with one of three options:

Additional tax payable

You must now select an appropriate ‘Payment method’ from the drop-down list.

Note:

Payment can only be made by ‘Cheque’ and ‘BACS/CHAPS’; we accept Faster Payments. If you wish to use this option, select the ‘BACS/CHAPS’ option;

See the separate ‘How to pay LBTT’ guidance on our website for more information on payment options and methods.

Depending on which ‘Payment method’ option you selected, the latest “Payment Date for arrangements satisfactory” field will automatically update in accordance with the payment date rules covered in the separate ‘How to pay LBTT’ guidance on our website.

Note: Any tax due is treated as paid on time if arrangements satisfactory to us are made at the same time as the LBTT return and the full payment is received no later than the return filing date.

Less tax payable

 

Are you claiming a repayment of tax?

You must answer this question.

Select the radio button to tell Revenue Scotland whether you intend to claim repayment of the tax overpaid.

If the answer to the previous question is ‘Yes’, the following mandatory fields will be enabled:

  • Name(s) of Account Holder(s);
  • Bank/building society account number;
  • Branch sort code;
  • Name of Bank or building society;
  • Address of Bank or building society.

Please check that the bank details are correct.  Once you are satisfied that all the details are correct you can submit the return.

Interest is due on a repayment of LBTT and we will include this in the sum that we repay.

We aim to deal with all repayment claims for which we have full information within 10 working days of receiving them. We will contact you if we need further information to enable us to make the repayment.

No further tax payable

Once you are satisfied that all the details are correct you can submit the return.

Submitting the return

When you have completed the LBTT lease review return and are ready to submit it, select ‘Submit’ on the far right side of the ‘Declaration’ page. If you select ‘Submit’ and an error dialogue box appears, you must correct any relevant errors before you can successfully submit the return.

The return will then be submitted electronically to us and given a unique transaction reference which will be displayed to you on the screen. This number must be quoted when making payments in relation to the same transaction or when contacting us about the transaction.

An email will be sent to you to confirm your return has been submitted and provide you with your unique transaction reference.

Download tax return

You can save a copy of the LBTT lease review return by clicking ‘Download PDF’. You will not be able to access your return online after this point.

Note: Please ensure your browser allows pop-ups before you download your submitted LBTT return

A dialogue box will appear on screen asking you whether you wish to open or save the PDF file that has been created. Choosing ‘Save’ will allow you to save a local PDF copy of the tax return. By either choosing the ‘Open’ option, or opening the PDF file later on after saving it, you will be able to print off a hard copy of the LBTT return – this may be of particular benefit when completing your next LBTT lease review return.

Amending a return

You can amend an LBTT lease review return by writing to us at the address shown further below (quoting the return reference number) and telling us, for each field you wish to amend, the current entry and the entry you wish to amend to.

Note: We do not accept amendments to returns over the phone

No amendment is possible more than 12 months after the filing date of the return. We will reject any requests for amendments received after the expiry of this 12 month amendment period.

The ‘filing date’, as defined in section 82 of The Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, is ‘the date by which that return requires to be made by or under any enactment’ – in other words it is the last day on which the return can be made to us before it is late. In a three year review return, the filing date is 30 days after the three year anniversary date of the transaction.

If more tax is payable as a result of the amendments you have made, then the normal payment rules and arrangements apply (that is, you must enclose a cheque for the additional amount payable) – see the separate guidance on ‘How to pay LBTT’. You will also have to separately pay interest on the additional amount of tax payable, charged from the filing date of the return until the date the additional amount is paid.

Note: do not include the interest in any request to amend the ‘Amount due for this return’ question in the ‘About the Calculation’ section of the LBTT return. Interest is administered separately by us and we will send you an Interest Notice if interest is due.

If less tax is payable, we will repay the excess amount to you with interest (see the separate guidance on interest on repayments provided at RSTP4004).

If the amended return contains an inaccuracy then the person on whose behalf the amended return is being made may be liable to a penalty – see RSTP3011.

All amendments to paper returns and any associated payments should be sent to:

Revenue Scotland

PO Box 24068

EH6 9BR

Last updated