Report Suspected Wrongdoing Related to Revenue Scotland Taxes: LBTT or SLFT

Reporting suspected wrongdoing about LBTT or Scottish Landfill Tax

Revenue Scotland provides a reporting route for suspected wrongdoing connected with taxes it administers, including Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Scottish Landfill Tax (SLFT). The main purpose is to help you classify the concern by tax type and by whether it relates to a business or an individual, so it can be reviewed appropriately.

• This is a reporting channel for suspected wrongdoing, not guidance on calculating tax or claiming relief.
• You should first consider whether the issue relates to LBTT, SLFT, or another matter that still falls within Revenue Scotland’s remit.
• You are also asked to identify whether the concern is about a business or an individual.
• The official material does not define “wrongdoing” or set a strict evidence threshold before making a report.
• Useful reports will usually make clear the tax involved, who is involved, the transaction or conduct in question, and why it appears improper.
• Not every tax error or disagreement is necessarily wrongdoing, so it is sensible to separate suspicion from proof and check that the matter is actually within Revenue Scotland’s scope.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

How to report suspected wrongdoing involving LBTT or Scottish Landfill Tax to Revenue Scotland

This page explains what Revenue Scotland’s reporting route is for, what kinds of concerns it covers, and how to think about whether your report relates to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), Scottish Landfill Tax (SLFT), or something else. The source material is brief, but its practical purpose is clear: it is a channel for reporting suspected wrongdoing connected with taxes administered by Revenue Scotland.

What this rule is about

Revenue Scotland administers devolved Scottish taxes, including LBTT and SLFT. The source material is about reporting suspected wrongdoing linked to those taxes.

In simple terms, this is not guidance on how to calculate tax or claim relief. It is about alerting Revenue Scotland where you believe a person or business may be acting improperly in relation to a tax matter that falls within Revenue Scotland’s remit.

The page also shows that Revenue Scotland wants reports to be categorised at the outset. In particular, it asks:

• whether the concern relates to LBTT, SLFT, or something else, and
• whether the report concerns a business or an individual.

That matters because the authority will need to understand both the tax involved and who is said to be involved before it can assess the report properly.

What the official source says

The official source states that suspected wrongdoing related to Revenue Scotland can be reported. It gives LBTT and SLFT as examples and also allows for “Other”.

It then asks the reporter to identify whether the suspected wrongdoing concerns:

• a business, or
• an individual.

The source does not set out a detailed legal test for wrongdoing, nor does it define the evidence threshold needed before a report is made. It simply establishes the reporting categories.

What this means in practice

If you suspect that a land transaction or landfill tax matter has not been dealt with honestly or correctly, the reporting route appears to be designed to direct that concern to Revenue Scotland.

For LBTT, this could in practice include concerns connected with a land transaction, return, tax treatment, valuation, relief claim, or other aspect of the tax position, provided the concern genuinely relates to Revenue Scotland’s tax functions. The source itself does not list examples, so any specific allegation would need to be framed carefully and tied to the tax issue you believe is wrong.

The same applies to SLFT. If the issue concerns landfill tax administered by Revenue Scotland, the reporting route appears intended to receive that information.

The “Other” option matters because not every concern will fit neatly into LBTT or SLFT. A report may still be relevant to Revenue Scotland even if it does not obviously fall within those two labels.

The distinction between a business and an individual is also practical. A suspected underpayment or false statement might involve:

• a company, partnership, firm, or other business entity, or
• a named person acting in an individual capacity.

Choosing the right category should help the report reach the right compliance or review process.

How to analyse it

If you are trying to decide how to classify a concern using the source material, these are the key questions to ask:

• Does the issue relate to a tax administered by Revenue Scotland?
• Is it specifically about LBTT?
• Is it specifically about SLFT?
• If not, is it still a Revenue Scotland matter that belongs under “Other”?
• Does the concern relate primarily to a business or to an individual?

It is also sensible to separate suspicion from conclusion. The source supports reporting suspected wrongdoing. It does not say that the reporter must prove the wrongdoing before reporting it. Equally, it does not suggest that every disagreement about tax treatment is necessarily wrongdoing.

So in practical terms, a useful report is likely to be one that identifies:

• the tax involved,
• the person or business involved,
• the transaction or conduct that causes concern, and
• why you think it may be improper.

The source does not prescribe these details, but they follow naturally from the categories the page asks you to select.

Example

Illustration: a person involved in a Scottish property transaction believes that the LBTT return submitted for the purchase omitted part of the chargeable consideration. If the concern is that the return was deliberately or improperly completed, the source indicates that this can be reported as a matter relating to LBTT. The next classification question would be whether the concern is about a business, such as a company purchaser, or an individual buyer.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The source material is functional rather than explanatory. It does not define “wrongdoing”, and that can matter.

In practice, some tax issues involve:

• a genuine mistake,
• a dispute about how the law applies,
• careless compliance, or
• deliberate evasion or misrepresentation.

The reporting page does not distinguish between those categories. It simply provides a route for suspected wrongdoing to be reported.

Another difficulty is scope. The page refers to wrongdoing “related to Revenue Scotland”, but the boundary of that phrase is not explained in the source. Some conduct may involve property, waste, or tax generally without actually falling within Revenue Scotland’s responsibilities. That is why the first practical question is whether the issue is really about a devolved Scottish tax administered by Revenue Scotland.

There can also be uncertainty about whether the relevant subject is a business or an individual. For example, a property transaction may involve a company, its directors, and individual purchasers or sellers. The source does not explain how to classify mixed cases.

Key takeaways

• The reporting route is for suspected wrongdoing connected with taxes administered by Revenue Scotland, including LBTT and SLFT.
• The source asks you to identify both the tax area and whether the concern relates to a business or an individual.
• The page does not define wrongdoing in detail, so classification and context matter in practice.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Report Suspected Wrongdoing Related to Revenue Scotland Taxes: LBTT or SLFT

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