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: Revenue Scotland has 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 Scottish Electronic Tax System (SETS) continues to operate as normal.

The telephone Support Desk reopened for service on 1 July. Operating revised midweek hours, with experienced staff taking calls and providing support whilst working remotely.

  • The Support Desk telephone number is: 03000 200 310.
  • Revised operating hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 16:00

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, Revenue Scotland no longer accepts paper returns, paper repayment claims or cheque payments. All returns should be made online through SETS. All payments should be made electronically. Online versions of other paper forms have been 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 happens to any paper returns or cheque payments received after 1 May?​

A: Any paper returns or cheque payments received after 1 May, 2020 will be rejected.

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: Has the process of claiming a repayment of Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) changed at all?​

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: How should 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:

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: The temporary suspension of penalty and debt activity, introduced in March 2020, has now ended.

Where tax remains due, this must be paid. Penalties may be charged if a tax return or payment has not been made on time. For more information see RSTP3001 - Penalties

Revenue Scotland will take proportionate measures to alleviate the burden on taxpayers potentially facing penalties for late returns or payments.

We encourage any taxpayers encountering financial difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic to contact us as soon as possible, particularly if this is likely to affect your ability to pay tax on time. Please email: rsdebt@revenue.scot

For more information on Revenue Scotland’s approach to penalty activity see COVID-19 Penalties and Debt

Q: What impact do changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) announced by the Chancellor have on Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT)?

A: Finance Secretary Kate Forbes announced today (10 July) that a temporary increase in the nil rate band for LBTT residential property transactions from £145,000 to £250,000 will be introduced with effect from next Wednesday (15 July) and remain in place until 31 March 2021.

The revised rates and bands will only apply to transactions with an effective date on or after 15 July 2020

Rates for the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) and non-residential LBTT remain unchanged.

More information on LBTT is available on the Revenue Scotland website

If you have any questions, please contact Revenue Scotland by email: lbtt@revenue.scot

 

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