A consultation on an amendment to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Group Relief

Closed 13 Apr 2018

Opened 19 Mar 2018

Contact

lbtt.gr@gov.scot

Feedback updated 7 Jun 2018

We asked

Respondants, specifically, for their views on the proposed draft SSIs: 

  • equivalency with SDLT provisions
  • potential effect on tax avoidance

We also requested general views on the proposed SSI and the broader potential impact on businesses

 

You said

12 responses from organisations were received.  Broad support for the change to group relief avilability with requests to use Scots Law Terminology, widen provisions to cover any type of equivalent security arrangements located anywhere in the world and to apply the legislation retrospectively.

We did

Considered the points made by respondants.  We revised the proposed SSI to reflect the request for use of Scots Law terminology,provided provision for arrangments constituted anywhere in the world and to provide avilability of the relief for all types of relevant security provision. 

Results updated 7 Jun 2018

The comments on the proposed draft presented in the consultation document have been considered.  Effect has been given to requests for use of Scots Law Terminology, to allow availability of group relief for relevant security arrangements and to allow availability of group relief for arrangements made anywhere in the world.

An updated version of the SSI is available. The Analysis response document is avilable in Adobe .PDF from the links below. 

Files:

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

The purpose of this consultation is to gather views from stakeholders on amendment to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 to allow Group relief to apply where:

  •  there is a land transaction between one company and another company within its corporate group structure;

and

  •  there is a share pledge or equivalent arrangement in place.

Why your views matter

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution has announced plans to bring forward legislation to address a specific issue which has emerged in relation to the group relief provisions in the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) legislation. The proposal to amend the legislation in response to this reflects the original policy intention that LBTT group relief arrangements should operate in a similar way to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensure Scotland remains an attractive place to invest and do business.

This consultation is intended to help ensure that the secondary legislation introduced to the Scottish Parliament on this matter fully addresses the issue, allowing for group relief to be claimed in the relevant circumstances once it is in effect.

Reflecting the technical nature of the issue, widespread awareness amongst relevant stakeholders and a wish to introduce legislation at the earliest sensible opportunity, the consultation will run for an abbreviated period of four weeks. Following this consultation, legislative proposals will be brought forward for scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament. Over the four weeks, the Scottish Government will complement the online consultation process with active engagement with stakeholders.

View the full consultation paper here

View accessible HTML here

 

What happens next

We will seek to amend legislation to allow availability of Group Relief for LBTT where there is an extant Scottish share pledge on property transferred within a corporate group structure.

Interests

  • Business, Industry and Innovation
  • Economy
  • Housing and Regeneration