This afternoon John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance,
Employment and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Government, made
history by announcing the rates of Land and Buildings Transaction
Tax (LBTT) and Scottish Landfill Tax, the first new Scottish Taxes
since 1707. The taxes will apply in Scotland from 1 April 2015.
LBTT will apply to all land transactions within Scotland. Stamp
duty land tax (SDLT), which currently applies to land transactions,
was a "slab tax" so the whole price was charged at one
rate, determined by the total consideration paid. LBTT is a
progressive tax, like income tax, so the proportion of the
consideration in each tax band will have a different rate of LBTT
applied to it. Details of the rates are set out below. The rate of
LBTT which will apply to non-residential leases remains the same as
the SDLT rate which applies to leases.
