Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for a breakdown of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) revenue collected between 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2025 by:

• Transaction type (residential, non-residential, mixed-use).
• Transaction value bands.
• Any exemptions or reliefs applied (e.g., first-time buyers, multiple dwellings, charitable organisations).

You also asked for any internal reports, briefings, or analyses prepared for Ministers regarding:

• The impact of LBTT on housing market activity.
• Revenue projections versus actual receipts.
• Effectiveness of reliefs/exemptions.

Response

In response to the first part of your request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because the Scottish Government does not hold a comprehensive collected record of the LBTT revenue requested between 1 January 2023 and 31 August 2025 broken into transaction type, transaction value bands and by exemption or relief applied.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, some of the information is published by Revenue Scotland on its website:

• The monthly and annual information published by Revenue Scotland includes some data on transaction types: Statistics - Datasets | Revenue Scotland
• Detailed information on the distribution of residential and non-residential transactions is published by Revenue Scotland here: Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Statistics | Revenue Scotland
• Information on reliefs applied to LBTT returns is published by Revenue Scotland on an annual basis:

For the period 2024-25, in the Annual Land and Buildings Transaction Tax statistics 2024 - 25 | Revenue Scotland (See Tables 6.1-6.3)

For the period 2023-24, at: https://revenue.scot/news-publications/publications/statistics/annualsummary-trends-devolved-taxes-202324 (See section 2.8, and separately Figure 17 and Tables 9 and 10).

For the period 2022-23, at: https://revenue.scot/news-publications/publications/statistics/annualsummary-trends-devolved-taxes-202223 (See section 1.8, and separately Figure 18 and Tables 10 and 11).

You may also wish to contact Revenue Scotland for further detail. Freedom of Information requests should be made in writing to info@revenue.scot or Revenue Scotland - FOI Requests, PO Box 24068, Edinburgh, EH6 9BR.

In relation to the second part of your request, we have interpreted this as seeking any internal reports, briefings, or analyses prepared for Ministers in the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 August 2025 regarding:

• The impact of current LBTT arrangements on housing market activity.
• The performance of LBTT revenue (by way of actual receipts) against published Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts.
• The effectiveness of reliefs/exemptions within the context of the current LBTT arrangements.

I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested in Annexes A to D. Please note that material assessed as out of scope has been marked as redacted.

• Annex A (Documents 1-7): Briefing provided for Ministerial meetings with Revenue Scotland for a period from 28 February 2023 to 30 June 2025.
• Annex B (Document 8): Extracts from Ministerial briefing for a period to March 2024 which relates to LBTT receipts relative to forecast.
• Annex C (Document 9): Parliamentary Question Background briefing for: S6W-39951, S6W-39954, S6W-35466 and S6W-14446.
• Annex D (Documents 10-14): Briefing and advice related to the LBTT Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) and LBTT review.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections s.29(1)(a) (policy formulation), s30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views) and s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information.

The reasons that exemptions s.29(1)(a) and s30(b)(ii) apply is due to the need for officials and Ministers to have a private space within which to consider and deliberate options related to, and information regarding, LBTT for the purposes of delivering effective future government policy. These exemptions are subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, balanced against this there is also a public interest in retaining a private space within which officials can provide advice and analysis to Ministers to support the development of the Government’s policy position. This space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. We have therefore endeavoured to provide the requested information wherever possible, but some documents have been redacted and information related to LBTT revenue in 2025-26 from one document has not been released in order to protect this private space.

The s.38(1)(b) (personal information) exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500484993 - Information Released - Annex A - D

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