Guide for Tenants: Completing Online LBTT Lease Review Return in Scotland

Submitting an online LBTT three-year lease review return as a tenant

Revenue Scotland’s online three-year LBTT lease review return is a filing process for tenants, not a guide to the tax rules. The form is mostly prefilled from the original lease return, but the tenant must still check all details, enter any updated figures, and make sure any extra tax is paid or any repayment claim is correct.

• This online route is for tenants only; agents should use the SETS portal instead.
• You need the original LBTT return reference, the original effective date, the lease details, and your recalculated LBTT figures before you start.
• The return is prepopulated from earlier filings, but you remain responsible for confirming dates, rent figures, relief details, and other key information.
• You cannot save a draft, and once you access the return you must complete it within 90 minutes.
• If rent differs between years, you must enter the correct figures for each relevant year, and the system will recalculate the tax position.
• Some fields cannot be changed online, and amendments must be requested by email within the time limit; extra tax may attract interest, while overpayments may be repaid with interest.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

How to submit an online LBTT three-year lease review return as a tenant

This page explains how Revenue Scotland says a tenant should complete an online LBTT lease review return for a three-year review. It is about the filing process, not the underlying tax rules. The main practical point is that the return is largely prepopulated from the earlier lease return, but the tenant still remains responsible for checking the figures, completing the missing fields, and making sure any extra tax is paid or any repayment claim is correct.

What this rule is about

LBTT lease transactions can require further returns after the original lease return. One of those is the three-year lease review return. This Revenue Scotland guidance explains how a tenant, using the public online route rather than the agent portal, can access and submit that review return.

The guidance is procedural. It does not tell you how to decide the tax treatment in law. Instead, it assumes that you have already worked out the correct figures for the review, including any recalculation of LBTT due on the lease.

That distinction matters. A return can be easy to file mechanically, but still wrong if the lease dates, rent figures, linked transaction details, relief position, or tax recalculation are wrong.

What the official source says

Revenue Scotland says this online return should only be used by tenants. Agents should use the SETS online portal instead.

Before starting, you need key information, including:

• the lease agreement
• the original LBTT return reference for the lease
• the effective date of the original return
• a recalculation of the total LBTT payable on the lease
• the amount of LBTT already paid

You need a valid original lease return reference and the matching effective date to access the review return. If you do not have them, Revenue Scotland says you must contact it.

Once access to the return has been requested, it must be completed within 90 minutes. You cannot save a draft. The return is prepopulated using information from the earlier lease return or the latest lease review return.

The process described by Revenue Scotland is broadly as follows:

• select that the return is for a three-year lease review
• enter the original return reference and original effective date
• review the prepopulated return summary
• complete or confirm transaction details, including the relevant date and lease end date
• check tenant details and update limited contact fields if needed
• check property details and add further information where appropriate
• complete the lease value section, including rent figures for relevant years if values differ
• review any relief information carried forward from the original return
• review the tax calculation, which is automatically populated from the transaction details
• submit the return and complete payment or repayment steps as required

The guidance also says that some fields cannot be edited online. In particular, if the effective date of transaction or lease start date shown is wrong, Revenue Scotland says you must contact it with evidence so that the date can be amended.

On amendment, Revenue Scotland says:

• amendments must be made by email, not by telephone
• the amendment request must identify each field to be changed, the current entry, and the replacement entry
• no amendment is possible more than 12 months after the filing date
• for a three-year review return, the filing date is 30 days after the three-year anniversary date of the transaction
• if more tax becomes payable, normal payment rules apply and interest may also arise
• if less tax is payable, Revenue Scotland says it will repay the excess with interest
• an inaccurate amended return may expose the relevant person to a penalty

What this means in practice

The online form is not a fresh return built from scratch. It is a review of an existing lease record. That is why so much information is prefilled and why the original return reference and effective date are essential.

The practical effect is that your task is mainly to verify and update rather than to re-enter everything. But that does not reduce responsibility. Revenue Scotland expressly says the tenant is responsible for ensuring the return is complete and accurate.

In practice, a tenant should treat the prepopulated entries as a starting point, not as confirmation that they are correct.

Some points are especially important:

• The relevant date must still be entered or confirmed even where there are no other changes.
• If rent is not the same for all rental years, each relevant year’s figure must be entered.
• The system calculates NPV from the figures entered, but Revenue Scotland says that field can be edited if necessary.
• If a repayment is due, the system takes you into a repayment claim process and calculates the repayment automatically.
• If additional tax is due, the new submission reference is the payment reference you must use.

The guidance also makes clear that procedural limits matter. Because there is no draft save function and the session lasts 90 minutes, it is sensible to prepare all figures and documents before opening the form.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to approach the return is to work through five questions.

First, are you using the right route? This public online process is for tenants. If an agent is filing, Revenue Scotland says the SETS portal should be used.

Second, can you access the correct lease record? You need the original return reference in the required format and the original effective date. If these do not match Revenue Scotland’s records, you may not be able to proceed.

Third, what has actually changed since the earlier return? The review may require updated rent figures, date confirmation, linked transaction details, or relief adjustments. Even if little has changed, the return still needs to be checked carefully.

Fourth, do the figures support the tax calculation? The return process assumes that you already know the recalculated total LBTT payable on the lease and the amount already paid. This is the key comparison that determines whether more tax is due or whether a repayment arises.

Fifth, are there any fields that cannot be corrected directly online? If a critical prepopulated date is wrong, the guidance says you must contact Revenue Scotland with evidence rather than trying to work around the issue in the form.

A practical checklist is:

• lease agreement, including start and end dates
• original LBTT return reference
• original effective date
• review date information, including the relevant date
• updated rent by relevant year if rent varies
• details of any linked lease or linked transaction if relevant
• details of any relief originally claimed and whether any editable amount needs updating
• recalculated total LBTT due
• LBTT already paid
• bank details if a repayment is expected

Example

A tenant filed the original LBTT return when a lease was granted. Three years later, the tenant needs to make the lease review return. The online system pulls through the tenant details, property address, lease start date, and previously declared lease values.

The tenant checks the return and finds that the rent has not been the same in each rental year. The tenant enters the correct rent for each relevant year instead of leaving the prefilled assumption unchanged. The system recalculates the NPV and the tax position. The result shows that less LBTT is due overall than has already been paid. On submission, the tenant is taken to the repayment screen, where the repayment amount is generated automatically and bank details are entered for payment.

If, instead, the recalculation showed more LBTT due, the tenant would need to use the new submission reference when paying the additional tax.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The guidance is straightforward on the mechanics of the form, but some parts are still fact-sensitive.

The biggest difficulty is that the filing process depends on getting the underlying tax analysis right first. Revenue Scotland’s page does not explain how to calculate the lease review tax position. It points users to separate guidance and the lease transactions calculator. If the rent profile, relevant date, linked transaction treatment, or relief position is misunderstood, the return may be completed neatly but still be inaccurate.

Another practical difficulty is the reliance on prepopulated data. Users may assume that information carried forward from earlier returns is correct. That may not be safe, especially where the original return contained an error or where later events mean some values now need to be revisited.

The amendment rules also create pressure. A tenant cannot amend by telephone, and the amendment window closes 12 months after the filing date. For a three-year review return, Revenue Scotland says the filing date is 30 days after the three-year anniversary date of the transaction. If an error is discovered late, the ability to correct it may be limited.

There is also a procedural trap in the payment position. If amendments increase the tax due, Revenue Scotland says interest runs separately and should not be added into the return field for the amount due. Interest is dealt with by Revenue Scotland outside the return itself.

Key takeaways

• This online process is for tenants filing a three-year LBTT lease review return, not for agents using the SETS portal.
• The return is largely prepopulated, but the tenant remains responsible for checking all entries and supplying correct updated figures.
• You need the original return reference and effective date, and you should gather all figures before starting because there is no draft save and the session lasts 90 minutes.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guide for Tenants: Completing Online LBTT Lease Review Return in Scotland

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