Swinney defends LBTT record

Holyrood has defended the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), which replaced Stamp Duty last April, despite it having raised two-thirds of expected revenues in its first nine months. The government had the LBTT would raise £235m in the current financial year, though official figures show just £156.7m had been raised by the end of January.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said revenues were "firmly on track", and congratulated Revenue Scotland for processing its 100,000th tax return, which he described as “a pivotal milestone".

He said: "Our objective has always been to make sure that first-time buyers have the greatest possible chance to enter the housing market… LBTT was one of the first Scottish taxes collected in 300 years and these figures show that more than 40,000 home buyers have benefited since it was introduced.

"This means that 93% of home buyers have paid less tax than they would have done under UK stamp duty land tax, or paid no tax at all."

Highlighting a Bank of Scotland review, which concluded the change had saved homebuyers money and encouraged transactions, Swinney said: "Where we have the freedom to shape a taxation system that is fair and proportionate to the ability to pay, we have created one that is progressive and supports those who most need it."