Land and Buildings Transaction Tax revenue reaches record high

Between September and October, the Scottish government's revenue from Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) reached a new record high, increasing by 11.5% (or £7.2 million) to £69.6 million.

From November of last year to October of this year, revenue from LBTT rose 16.3% to £634.9 million. The last four months have accumulated £259.3 million, equating to the highest four monthly totals since LBTT was first introduced in Scotland in April 2015.

In November of this year, 84.3% of all tax (this is excluding the additional dwelling supplement) was paid by homeowners. The 10% tax rate starts with all properties sold for more than £325,001, and the statistics show that those buying homes over this threshold paid, on average, £22,146. For properties sold for over £750,000, £96,923 was paid in tax (by only 130 people).

Landlords, real estate investors, and second homeowners contributed £19.3 million in October alone, accounting for over a quarter (27.7%) of the total amount of money collected through the extra dwelling supplement (ADS). ADS raised £54.0m in just the previous three months, which is the largest sum collected since LBTT started.

The chief executive of DJ Alexander Scotland, David Alexander, stated: "The property market continues to be a strong contributor to the Scottish governments' coffers. Obviously, this is in part due to the housing boom that has happened over the last few years, but it is equally down to the substantially higher rates charged north of the Border."

He also commented, "Our English counterparts pay nothing like this in tax to buy their homes, and there is an increasing disparity between how much we pay in Scotland and whether this will limit growth in the country if buyers can save thousands - and sometimes tens of thousands – to invest their money south of the border."