FAQs

Up to date information about Revenue Scotland's ongoing activity to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

FAQs

 

Q: Is Revenue Scotland still operating as normal during the COVID-19 pandemic?​

A: We have introduced some temporary measures to protect the health and wellbeing of Revenue Scotland staff. These changes align with government guidance of working from home, minimising non-essential travel and social distancing. 

The Support Desk is currently closed. Agents with a query who have access to SETS should contact us through the secure message service online. For taxpayers or agents with no system access, queries will be dealt with by email:

From 1 May, we will no longer accept paper returns, paper repayment claims or cheque payments. All returns should be made online through SETS. Online versions of current paper forms are being developed for taxpayers to complete and submit electronically.

These are temporary measures and will be reviewed regularly over the coming weeks and months.

Q: What will happen to any paper returns or cheque payments received after 1 May?​

A: Any returns or cheque payments received w/c 4 May with a date of 30 April or earlier will be processed but subject to delay. Any returns or cheque payments received with a date of 1 May or after will be rejected but there will be a delay in Revenue Scotland doing so.

Q: In the instance of taxpayers finding themselves impacted by the pandemic, will there be any changes to policy or legislation to the devolved taxes introduced to support them?​

A: Revenue Scotland is aware of the impact the restrictions put in place as part of the response to the coronavirus has had on taxpayers. We continue to engage with Scottish Government officials as they work to consider a range of matters relating to the devolved taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Should agents or taxpayers wish to discuss significant difficulties relating to a transaction, they should contact us - via the secure message service on SETS, or if that is not possible, by email.

Q: Will there be an extension of the 18 month window for claiming a refund of Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS)?​

A: The Scottish Parliament has now passed the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 which contains a change to the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS). This new Act:

  • Provides an extension to the time period for selling the previous main residence so that ADS can be reclaimed from 18 months to 36 months, where,
  • The ‘effective date’ of the purchase of the new residence was between 24 September 2018 and 24 March 2020

More information on this change is available on the Revenue Scotland website

Should you have any queries, please contact the Revenue Scotland LBTT team: lbtt@revenue.scot

Q: I normally phone and speak to someone if I have a query.  The Support Desk isn’t available at present.  How can I contact Revenue Scotland?​

A: We encourage all SETS users to contact us via the secure message service online.  If that is not possible, queries will be dealt with by email. LBTT enquiries to lbtt@revenue.scot; SLfT enquiries to slft@revenue.scot; any Review enquiries to reviews@revenue.scot.

Where the query involves taxpayer information, we ask you to read Email Disclaimer section in the Contact Us and send an email to us with the following text as a declaration: "I hereby confirm that I accept the risk of communication with Revenue Scotland by email and consent to using this for future communication". With this declaration, Revenue Scotland can continue to communicate with you by email.

Q: Penalties and Debt

A: Revenue Scotland is aware of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on taxpayers. During this period, Revenue Scotland is not issuing out any penalty notices, once this work recommences we will update our website.

If you are having difficulty making payment, you should contact us by email: rsdebt@revenue.scot

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