Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney announced in late January a review of his Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) which will replace Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland on April 1 2015.
His changes to the rates and bands for LBTT on residential property purchases in Scotland follows Chancellor George Osborne’s UK stamp duty revamp in December and lobbying from opposition political parties who described Swinney’s proposals as ‘a tax on aspiration’.
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The new Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rates announced in the Autumn Budget Statement apply to the whole of the United Kingdom, and mean that for many buyers on both sides of the border the cost of a new home went down on 4th December.
This respite might have been short-lived for buyers in Scotland, as new rules already announced by the Scottish government and due to come into effect in April 2015, would have increased SDLT again north of the border. BUT there has been a change of plan for Scotland.