Online LBTT system is updated for three-year review submissions
By Justine Riccomini, Head of Taxation (Scottish Taxes, Employment and ICAS Tax Community)
5 April 2018
On 29 March 2018, Revenue Scotland issued a press release announcing that it had updated its online LBTT systems to accept ‘three-year review’ returns. Under the provisions of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013, the returns are due by tenants who hold qualifying commercial leases, whether these tenants are based inside or outside Scotland.
Under the legislation, the conditions under which a return should be submitted are:
- every three years from the effective date of the lease;
- on assignation of the lease;
- on termination of the lease - both when the termination is earlier than the original lease term or if it expires on the planned expiry date.
The earliest date a three year review can be due is 1 April 2018, as the legislation came into force three years earlier, on 1 April 2015.
HMRC said that the returns “…will inform Revenue Scotland of any changes that have occurred since the last LBTT return was submitted and enable a review of the amount of tax chargeable over the lifetime of the lease so that the tenants pay the correct amount of tax.”
Returns must be filed within 30 days of the three-year anniversary of a notifiable lease to avoid a penalty. Paper LBTT return forms can also be downloaded from the website for tenants unable to submit an online return. Please note however, that the same deadline applies to paper returns as to electronic returns.
Further information about LBTT lease review returns is available on the Revenue Scotland website.
