Work out the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on any Scottish property purchase — residential or commercial — including first-time buyer relief and the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement on second homes and buy-to-lets. Scotland's replacement for stamp duty, calculated band by band.
£0
First consult
20+
Years combined
ACCA
Regulated
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is Scotland's replacement for stamp duty, collected by Revenue Scotland. On residential property it is 0% up to £145,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £325,000, 10% to £750,000 and 12% above that. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £175,000. Second homes and buy-to-lets also pay the Additional Dwelling Supplement at 8% of the whole price, from the first pound. Commercial purchases use a separate table: 0% to £150,000, 1% to £250,000 and 5% above. The return and payment are due within 30 days of completion.
What you would actually hand over at three different points: buying normally, buying your first home, and buying an additional dwelling. The gap between the first and last column is the Additional Dwelling Supplement doing its work.
LBTT payable on Scottish residential property by purchase price for 2026/27, at standard rates, with first-time buyer relief, and with the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement.
Price
Standard
First-time buyer
With 8% ADS
£145,000
£0
£0
£11,600
£175,000
£600
£0
£14,600
£200,000
£1,100
£500
£17,100
£250,000
£2,100
£1,500
£22,100
£300,000
£4,600
£4,000
£28,600
£400,000
£13,350
£12,750
£45,350
£500,000
£23,350
£22,750
£63,350
£750,000
£48,350
£47,750
£108,350
Residential conveyance rates for 2026/27. Figures exclude legal fees, registration dues and any mortgage costs.
The rates
Revenue Scotland LBTT rates for 2026/27.
LBTT is a slice tax, like income tax. Each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its band, so crossing a threshold never re-taxes everything underneath it. Residential and commercial purchases use entirely separate tables.
Residential conveyance rates
Scottish residential LBTT bands and rates for 2026/27.
Purchase price
LBTT rate
Up to £145,000
0%
£145,001 – £250,000
2%
£250,001 – £325,000
5%
£325,001 – £750,000
10%
Above £750,000
12%
First-time buyers get an extended nil-rate band to £175,000. Additional dwellings pay 8% ADS on the entire price on top of the rates above.
Non-residential (commercial) rates
Scottish non-residential LBTT bands and rates for 2026/27.
Purchase price
LBTT rate
Up to £150,000
0%
£150,001 – £250,000
1%
Above £250,000
5%
Commercial property is taxed far more lightly: £200,000 costs £500, £350,000 costs £6,000, £600,000 costs £18,500. Neither ADS nor first-time buyer relief applies. Leases are taxed separately on the net present value of the rent, which this calculator does not cover.
What to watch for
The parts of LBTT that catch buyers out.
LBTT itself is arithmetic. The expensive surprises come from ADS, from the differences against English stamp duty, and from the filing deadline.
ADS is charged on everything, from the first pound
Most property taxes are banded. The Additional Dwelling Supplement is not. At 8% of the entire purchase price, it frequently dwarfs the LBTT sitting underneath it — on a £300,000 second home the standard LBTT is £4,600 but ADS adds £24,000, roughly four times as much, for a combined £28,600.
It bites in situations people do not expect. Buying jointly with someone who already owns a flat triggers it on the whole price. Owning a property abroad triggers it. Buying your next home before selling your current one triggers it, although you can reclaim the supplement if the old home sells within 36 months. We go through the reclaim process and the joint-buyer rule here.
First-time buyer relief has no price ceiling
Scotland is more generous than England on one specific point. The English first-time buyer relief disappears entirely once the price passes £500,000; the Scottish version has no cap at all. It only extends the nil-rate band from £145,000 to £175,000 — worth £600 — but you keep that £600 whatever you pay for the property. To qualify you must never have owned a home anywhere in the world, and you must intend to live in it as your main residence.
LBTT is not stamp duty with a Scottish accent
The thresholds genuinely differ, and Scotland is dearer through most of the middle market because its 5% band opens at £250,001 while England is still charging 2% there. Compare the same prices side by side:
The LBTT return goes to Revenue Scotland within 30 days of the effective date, normally completion, and the tax is due at the same time. A return is still required when no tax is payable — a first-time buyer at £170,000 files a nil return. Your solicitor almost always does this, but the obligation is legally yours, so it is worth confirming it has been submitted rather than assuming. Missing it triggers an automatic penalty, then daily penalties, plus interest.
After the purchase
LBTT is a one-off cost at completion, but a Scottish property brings ongoing tax with it. Rental profit is taxed at Scottish income tax rates — six bands running from 19% to 48% — and mortgage interest relief for individual landlords is restricted to a 20% tax credit under Section 24. When you eventually sell an investment property, Capital Gains Tax on Scottish property is charged at UK-wide rates and reported within 60 days of completion. Our rental income tax calculator and CGT calculator cover both.
Rates and bands are taken from Revenue Scotland’s published 2026/27 conveyance tables and are generated from a single set of constants covered by automated tests, so the tables above and the calculator can never disagree. If you are buying through a company, buying multiple dwellings, or unsure whether ADS applies to your circumstances, speak to one of our accountants before you conclude missives.
LBTT residential bands are 0% on the first £145,000, 2% from £145,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £325,000, 10% from £325,001 to £750,000, and 12% above £750,000. Each rate applies only to the slice of the price that falls inside that band, so a £300,000 purchase does not pay 5% on the whole amount — it pays nothing on the first £145,000, 2% on the next £105,000 and 5% on the last £50,000, giving £4,600 in total.
A £300,000 residential purchase in Scotland attracts £4,600 of LBTT at the standard rates. A first-time buyer pays £4,000, because the nil-rate band stretches to £175,000. If it is a second home or a buy-to-let, the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement adds £24,000 on top, taking the bill to £28,600.
ADS is a surcharge of 8% charged on any additional residential property — a second home, a holiday home, or a buy-to-let. Two things catch people out. First, it applies to the whole purchase price from the very first pound, not just the portion above a threshold, so it is a much blunter charge than the banded LBTT beneath it. Second, it applies if you own any other residential property anywhere in the world on the day you complete, not just in Scotland. It rose from 6% to 8% on 5 December 2024. If you are replacing your main home but have not sold the old one yet, you pay ADS up front and can reclaim it if the previous home sells within 36 months.
Yes. First-time buyers in Scotland pay 0% on the first £175,000 rather than £145,000, which is worth up to £600. Above £175,000 the normal bands apply to the remainder. Unlike the SDLT version in England, there is no price cap — a Scottish first-time buyer purchasing a £600,000 property still gets the relief on the first £175,000. To qualify you must never have owned a property anywhere in the world, and you must intend to occupy it as your only or main residence.
Yes, on a separate and considerably gentler table: 0% up to £150,000, 1% from £150,001 to £250,000, and 5% above £250,000. Neither ADS nor first-time buyer relief applies to a non-residential purchase. Switch the property type in the calculator above to use these rates. Note that leases of non-residential property are taxed differently again, on the net present value of the rent, which this calculator does not cover.
No. LBTT replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland on 1 April 2015 and is collected by Revenue Scotland rather than HMRC. The thresholds and rates are genuinely different, not just rebadged. On a £300,000 purchase you would pay £4,600 of LBTT in Scotland against £5,000 of SDLT in England — Scotland is dearer in the middle of the market because its 5% band starts at £250,001 while England is still on 2% there. Wales has a third system again, Land Transaction Tax.
The return must reach Revenue Scotland and the tax must be paid within 30 days of the effective date, which is usually the completion date. Your solicitor normally handles the filing as part of conveyancing, but the legal obligation sits with you as the buyer, and a return is required even when no tax is due — for example a first-time buyer under £175,000. Late filing brings an automatic penalty followed by daily penalties, plus interest on unpaid tax.
Not directly — LBTT has to be paid within 30 days of completion, and lenders advance the mortgage against the property value rather than the tax. In practice buyers fund it from savings alongside the deposit and legal fees. It is worth budgeting for early: on a £400,000 second home the LBTT and ADS together come to £45,350, which is a substantial cash requirement on top of the deposit.
Almost certainly yes. ADS looks at the position of all the buyers jointly, so if any one of you owns another residential property at completion, the surcharge applies to the entire purchase price — not just to that person's share. This is one of the most common and most expensive surprises in Scottish conveyancing, and it is worth taking advice before you structure the purchase rather than after.
No. It applies the standard residential and non-residential conveyance rates, first-time buyer relief and ADS to a single purchase price. It does not handle non-residential leases, multiple dwellings relief, linked transactions, partnership or trust purchases, or the ADS repayment claim. If any of those apply, speak to your solicitor and to an accountant before you commit.
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