Guidance on ADS Return, Payment, Amendments, and Repayment Claims Explained

LBTT Additional Dwelling Supplement: returns, payment and repayment

The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is usually included in the LBTT return and paid within 30 days of the effective date if the buyer still owns another dwelling at that point. A later repayment may be available if the buyer genuinely replaces a previous main residence within the legal time limit, but the conditions are strict and Revenue Scotland cannot ignore them because of exceptional circumstances.

• ADS is reported and paid through the same LBTT return as the main LBTT charge for a notifiable transaction.
• If the old main residence is sold after the new purchase but before the LBTT return is filed, ADS does not need to be paid.
• If ADS has been paid, repayment may be claimed if the previous main residence is sold within the allowed period: 18 months for purchases up to 31 March 2024, and 36 months for purchases on or after 1 April 2024.
• The sold property must be the buyer’s previous main residence, and the new property must have been occupied as the buyer’s only or main residence.
• For joint buyers, the rules can be stricter, and where all buyers own other dwellings, all must meet the conditions for repayment.
• A repayment is claimed either by amending the LBTT return within 12 months or, later, by an overpayment relief claim within 5 years of the return due date; if MDR applied, the repayment amount may need special checking.

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LBTT Additional Dwelling Supplement: returns, payment and repayment claims

This page explains how the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) fits into the LBTT return process, when it must be paid, and when it may later be reclaimed. The main practical issue is timing: a buyer may have to pay ADS on purchase if they still own another dwelling at the effective date, but may be able to recover it later if they genuinely replace a previous main residence within the statutory time limits.

What this rule is about

ADS is an extra amount of LBTT charged on certain purchases of dwellings in Scotland. The source material here deals with the administrative side of that charge:

• when ADS must be included in an LBTT return and paid,
• what happens if the buyer sells their previous main residence after the new purchase, and
• how a repayment is claimed if the statutory conditions are met.

This matters because the position is tested by reference to the facts at the effective date of the purchase transaction. If, at that point, the buyer still owns their previous main residence and has not yet replaced it, ADS may be due immediately even if the old home is sold shortly afterwards.

What the official source says

If a transaction is notifiable for LBTT, a return must be made to Revenue Scotland within 30 days of the effective date. Any LBTT due must be calculated and paid at the same time. Where ADS applies, it is included in that same LBTT return and paid alongside the main LBTT charge.

The guidance also makes an important timing point. If the previous main residence is sold after the effective date of the new purchase but before the LBTT return is actually made, ADS does not need to be paid. In other words, if the sale happens before the return is submitted, the buyer may be able to file on the basis that ADS is no longer due.

Where ADS has already been paid, a repayment may be claimed if the statutory replacement conditions are met. The time window depends on the effective date of the purchase:

• for transactions with an effective date up to and including 31 March 2024, the relevant period is 18 months,
• for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 April 2024, the relevant period is 36 months.

For later transactions, the guidance states that a repayment may be claimed where:

• the buyer, or one of the joint buyers, sells a previous main residence within the 36-month period beginning with or ending with the day after the effective date of the new purchase,
• that sold dwelling was the buyer’s, or one of the buyers’, main residence at some point during the 36 months ending with the day after the effective date,
• the new dwelling has been occupied by all buyers as their only or main residence, and
• if there are joint buyers and each owns another dwelling, all buyers must satisfy the conditions.

The guidance says expressly that where the repayment conditions are not met, Revenue Scotland cannot take exceptional circumstances into account.

A repayment can be claimed in one of two ways:

• by amending the original LBTT return, if still within the 12-month statutory amendment period, or
• if that amendment window has ended, by making an overpayment relief claim under section 107 of the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 within 5 years of the tax return due date.

The source also notes a specific point for transactions where Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) was claimed. In that case, the ADS originally paid may have been calculated by reference to average consideration, so the repayment amount should be checked against the MDR calculation rather than assumed to be the full ADS figure a buyer expects.

What this means in practice

The practical starting point is that ADS is usually decided by the position at the end of the effective date of the purchase. If, by that point, the buyer owns the new dwelling and still owns another dwelling, and the replacement conditions are not yet satisfied, ADS may be payable.

That does not always mean the buyer will bear ADS permanently. If the old main residence is sold within the statutory period and the other conditions are met, the ADS can potentially be reclaimed.

There are three practical stages:

• Stage 1: decide whether ADS is due at the effective date.
• Stage 2: if it is due, include it in the LBTT return and pay it on time, unless the previous main residence is sold before the return is filed.
• Stage 3: if ADS was paid and the previous main residence is later sold within the permitted period, check whether the repayment conditions are fully met and then claim repayment through amendment or overpayment relief.

The examples in the guidance show that not every later sale produces a repayment. The dwelling sold must be the relevant previous main residence, not just any property. Selling a buy-to-let property will not help unless that property had in fact been the buyer’s main residence within the relevant look-back period. Likewise, selling the newly acquired home does not satisfy the repayment conditions, because the legislation is concerned with disposal of the previous main residence.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to analyse an ADS repayment question is to work through the following points in order.

• Was the purchase transaction notifiable for LBTT? If yes, an LBTT return is required.
• What was the effective date of the purchase? This determines both the filing deadline and whether the 18-month or 36-month repayment rules apply.
• At the end of the effective date, did the buyer still own another dwelling and had they not yet replaced their previous main residence? If so, ADS may have been due at that point.
• Was the previous main residence sold before the LBTT return was filed? If yes, the guidance says ADS does not need to be paid.
• If ADS was paid, was the sold property in fact the buyer’s previous main residence within the relevant statutory period?
• Was that sale completed within the relevant 18-month or 36-month period after the new purchase?
• Has the new dwelling actually been occupied as the buyer’s only or main residence? The guidance makes this an express condition for repayment.
• If there are joint buyers, do the special joint buyer conditions create a problem? In particular, for transactions on or after 1 April 2024, where all buyers own other dwellings, all of them must meet the conditions.
• Is the claim still within the 12-month amendment window? If not, is it still within the 5-year overpayment relief period?
• Was MDR claimed on the purchase? If so, has the repayment amount been checked against the MDR-based ADS calculation?

This framework helps separate two different questions that are often confused:

• Was ADS correctly payable at the time of purchase?
• Even if it was correctly payable then, is a later repayment now available?

Example

Illustration: A buyer purchases a new home on 1 May 2025 and still owns their old home on that date. On the effective date they own two dwellings, so ADS is due and must normally be included in the LBTT return. They move into the new property as their main residence. They then sell the old home within the following 36 months, and that old home had been their main residence during the relevant period before the purchase. On those facts, the guidance indicates that the buyer may claim repayment of the ADS, provided the other statutory conditions are met and the claim is made through the correct route and within the time limit.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The hardest issues are usually factual rather than mechanical.

First, the concept of a “previous main residence” is not the same as simply owning another property. A dwelling may be sold after the new purchase, but if it was only an investment property and not a main residence during the relevant period, that sale will not support a repayment.

Second, occupation requirements matter. The guidance says the new dwelling must have been occupied as the buyer’s only or main residence. For joint buyers, this can be especially important, because the repayment conditions may fail if only one buyer truly replaces a main residence or if not all buyers meet the statutory requirements.

Third, the rules changed for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 April 2024. The move from an 18-month to a 36-month framework helps some buyers, but it also means the correct rule depends closely on the transaction date.

Fourth, the guidance is clear that Revenue Scotland cannot allow a repayment just because the outcome feels harsh. If the statutory conditions are not met, exceptional personal circumstances do not create a discretion to repay.

Finally, repayment procedure can be overlooked. A buyer may be entitled in principle, but still needs to use the right route: amendment if still in time, or an overpayment relief claim if the amendment period has passed.

Key takeaways

• ADS is usually dealt with through the LBTT return and paid at the same time as LBTT, within 30 days of the effective date for a notifiable transaction.
• If the previous main residence is sold after the purchase but before the LBTT return is filed, the guidance says ADS does not need to be paid.
• If ADS was paid, repayment is only available if the statutory replacement conditions are met within the relevant 18-month or 36-month period, and the claim is made within the proper time limit.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guidance on ADS Return, Payment, Amendments, and Repayment Claims Explained

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