Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland
Scotland does not charge stamp duty: Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaced it in 2015 and Revenue Scotland collects it. Rates shown are for 2026-27, verified on 9 August 2026.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is Scotland's property transaction tax. It took over from Stamp Duty Land Tax in 2015 and is collected by Revenue Scotland, not by HM Revenue & Customs. Like the taxes in England and Wales it charges each slice of the price at its own band rate, and it starts charging at £145,000, the lowest starting point of the three UK regimes. Two features then make Scotland behave unlike the rest of the UK: first-time buyer relief is a flat reduction with no upper price cap, and the Additional Dwelling Supplement is charged on the whole purchase price rather than band by band.
A lower starting point than England or Wales
LBTT begins charging at £145,000, below the point at which either of the other two UK regimes starts. A larger share of Scottish purchases therefore carry some tax, though the band structure above that point is Scotland's own and does not track the English table at any level. Because the tax is charged in slices, crossing a threshold only affects the portion of the price above it, and the effective rate stays below the top band rate the purchase reaches. Revenue Scotland publishes the band table and rules on how a particular transaction is treated.
First-time buyer relief with no upper price cap
A qualifying first-time buyer has the nil-rate band lifted to £175,000, which is worth a flat maximum of £600. Two things follow. The relief is smaller in cash terms than the English equivalent, because it is capped by amount rather than generous at the low end. But it never disappears, because there is no upper price limit on it: a first-time buyer of an expensive Edinburgh flat receives the same reduction as a first-time buyer of a modest one. Scotland has no cliff of the English kind.
The Additional Dwelling Supplement is charged on the whole price
This is the largest structural difference between the three UK regimes. Where a purchase leaves you owning an additional dwelling and the price is £40,000 or more, the Additional Dwelling Supplement is charged at 8% of the entire purchase price. It is not banded, and it is not restricted to the amount above any threshold. It is then added to the LBTT already due on the same purchase. This is the whole reason Scottish second-home and buy-to-let totals come out far above English or Welsh totals on an identical price.
No surcharge for buyers from outside the UK
Scotland has no equivalent of the loading charged on non-UK residents buying in England and Northern Ireland. A buyer's residence status changes neither the LBTT nor the Additional Dwelling Supplement due. What matters is the price, whether every buyer qualifies as a first-time buyer, and whether the purchase leaves them owning more than one dwelling. Revenue Scotland sets out the qualifying tests and the routes to a refund where a previous main residence is sold after the new one is bought.
Work out your LBTT
LBTT on a £300,000 property in Scotland. That is an effective rate of 1.5%.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax rates (standard)
| Portion of the price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £145,000 | 0% |
| £145,000 to £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,000 to £325,000 | 5% |
| £325,000 to £750,000 | 10% |
| Above £750,000 | 12% |
Scotland stamp duty by price
Pick a price to see the LBTT bands, the first-time buyer position and the Additional Dwelling Supplement at that price.
- £100,000
- £110,000
- £120,000
- £130,000
- £140,000
- £150,000
- £160,000
- £170,000
- £180,000
- £190,000
- £200,000
- £210,000
- £220,000
- £230,000
- £240,000
- £250,000
- £260,000
- £270,000
- £280,000
- £290,000
- £300,000
- £310,000
- £320,000
- £330,000
- £340,000
- £350,000
- £360,000
- £370,000
- £380,000
- £390,000
- £400,000
- £410,000
- £420,000
- £430,000
- £440,000
- £450,000
- £460,000
- £470,000
- £480,000
- £490,000
- £500,000
- £520,000
- £540,000
- £560,000
- £580,000
- £600,000
- £650,000
- £700,000
- £750,000
- £800,000
- £850,000
- £900,000
- £950,000
- £1,000,000
- £1,100,000
- £1,200,000
- £1,300,000
- £1,400,000
- £1,500,000
- £1,600,000
- £1,700,000
- £1,800,000
- £1,900,000
- £2,000,000
- £2,250,000
- £2,500,000
- £3,000,000
First-time buyers
See what relief is available in Scotland and where it stops.
First-time buyers in ScotlandSecond homes and buy-to-let
How the additional-property surcharge works in Scotland, and when it does not apply.
Additional property in ScotlandCommon questions
Is stamp duty the same thing as LBTT?
No. Stamp Duty Land Tax has not applied in Scotland since 2015. Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaced it, with its own bands, its own reliefs and its own collector, Revenue Scotland. People still search for stamp duty in Scotland, but the tax being calculated is LBTT.
Is there a price cap on Scottish first-time buyer relief?
No. The relief lifts the nil-rate band to £175,000, worth a flat maximum of £600, and that reduction is available at any purchase price. Unlike England, an expensive purchase does not lose it.
Why is a second home so much more expensive in Scotland?
Because the Additional Dwelling Supplement is charged at 8% of the entire purchase price rather than as extra percentage points on each band. On the same property, that produces a markedly larger bill than the banded surcharges used in England and Wales.
Do buyers from outside the UK pay more in Scotland?
No. Scotland has no non-resident surcharge. That surcharge exists only under Stamp Duty Land Tax, which covers England and Northern Ireland. Revenue Scotland is the authority on Scottish transactions.
Source: Revenue Scotland. Rates effective from 1 April 2021, verified 9 August 2026. Figures are computed from the published rate tables and checked against Revenue Scotland’s own calculator.