Meeting of the Parliament 08 March 2016
I thank members of the Finance Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee for not only their scrutiny of the bill, but their willingness to work with the Government to enable the bill to progress expeditiously through the Parliament to achieve a 1 April 2016 commencement date.
I thank the organisations and individuals who provided written and oral evidence to the Finance Committee during the committee’s stage 1 scrutiny of the bill. I also appreciate the input from a range of stakeholders who met the bill team, often at short notice. That input has helped to shape the bill before the Parliament today. I am also grateful for the work that was undertaken by Revenue Scotland to ensure that, from an operational standpoint, it is ready to hit the ground running when the land and buildings transaction tax supplement comes into force.
The bill introduces a 3 per cent land and buildings transaction tax supplement payable on the purchase of additional dwellings, such as buy-to-let or second homes. Subject to parliamentary approval, that means that, from 1 April 2016, anyone buying a residential property in Scotland of £40,000 and above who already owns a residential property, here or anywhere in the world, will pay an additional 3 per cent land and buildings transaction tax on the whole purchase price of the property, unless they are simply replacing their existing main residence.
The bill provides that individuals or couples who concluded missives on their purchase before 28 January 2016 will not be subject to the supplement.
The United Kingdom Government announced in November last year that it intended to introduce a new stamp duty land tax higher rate on the purchase of additional residential properties in the UK, effective from 1 April 2016. As I said last December during my draft Scottish budget statement, following careful consideration of matters, I concluded that the absence of a similar land and buildings transaction tax supplement in Scotland could adversely impact on the opportunities for first time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder.