Scottish property tax holiday comes into force today

The change to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), first announced by Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes last week, will come into force today (Wednesday 15 July) and will last until the end of March 2021.

Whilst previously the lower threshold for LBTT was £145,000, it has been raised to £250,000 to aid the economic recovery following the coronavirus lockdown.

Above that amount the thresholds remain unchanged:
 

Purchase price	LBTT
Up to £250,000	0%
£250,001 to £325,000	5%
£325,001 to £750,000	10%
Over £750,000	12%

 
Where the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) applies, the change to the lower threshold applies as well. However the ADS will remain payable at 4% of the total purchase price.

You can read more about the rules for second homes on the Scottish government website.

The move, designed to help revive the housing market after a prolonged period of being on pause, follows on from the Stamp Duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland announced by Rishi Sunak last week. It should mean 80% of property sales in Scotland would be exempt from the tax altogether.

If you’re not sure how much Land and Building Transaction Tax you’ll need to pay, our Stamp Duty Calculator will take the recent changes into account.