Guide on Deferring LBTT Payment: Application Content and Recent Updates

Applying to Defer Payment of LBTT: Current Guidance

This guidance page no longer explains what must be included in an application to defer payment of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). Instead, it acts as a signpost to Revenue Scotland’s updated guidance at section LBTT4016, which should be used for any current deferral application.

• A request to defer LBTT is a formal application process, not simply late payment of tax.
• The older page does not contain the current content requirements for a deferral application.
• Revenue Scotland now directs readers to section LBTT4016 for the up-to-date guidance.
• Using outdated or incomplete guidance may lead to delay, rejection, or uncertainty over whether the application will be accepted.
• For live transactions, taxpayers and advisers should check the latest Revenue Scotland guidance and not rely on this page alone.
• Older versions may still help with historic cases, but the underlying legislation remains the primary legal source.

Scroll down for the full analysis.

Applying to defer payment of LBTT: what the official guidance means now

This page is about applications to defer payment of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). The source material does not set out the detailed content requirements itself. Instead, it says Revenue Scotland has updated its guidance and directs readers to LBTT4016. The practical point is that anyone considering deferral should not rely on this page alone, because it has effectively been replaced.

What this rule is about

In some LBTT cases, a taxpayer may be able to ask Revenue Scotland to defer payment of tax rather than paying the full amount immediately. A deferral request is not the same thing as simply paying late. It is a formal application process, and the content of that application matters.

The source page was originally intended to deal with what must be included in an application to defer payment. However, Revenue Scotland has updated its guidance and now tells readers to refer instead to section LBTT4016.

What the official source says

The official source says that the guidance on the application to defer payment of LBTT has recently been updated and that readers should refer to section LBTT4016.

That means this page no longer provides the operative detail. Its main legal and practical significance is as a signpost to the current guidance.

What this means in practice

If you are preparing or reviewing an LBTT deferral application, this page does not tell you what information must be included. You need to use the updated guidance in LBTT4016 instead.

In practice, that matters because deferral is a procedural area where missing information or relying on outdated guidance can create delay, rejection, or uncertainty about whether Revenue Scotland will accept the application. A conveyancer or taxpayer should therefore check the current Revenue Scotland material rather than treating this page as complete guidance.

This is especially important where timing matters. LBTT is return-based, and questions about when tax must be paid, whether any part can be deferred, and what must be submitted with the request can affect completion planning and post-completion compliance.

How to analyse it

Based on this source, the sensible approach is:

• First, recognise that this page is not the current substantive guidance.
• Then, go to the updated section identified by Revenue Scotland, namely LBTT4016.
• Check whether the transaction is one where deferral is potentially available at all.
• Identify what the updated guidance says must be included in the application.
• Make sure the application matches the current Revenue Scotland requirements, not an older version of the manual.

If you are comparing historic transactions or older advice files, it may also be worth checking the page revision history to understand whether the guidance changed after the relevant filing date. That does not change the law by itself, but it may matter when reconstructing what guidance was available at the time.

Example

Illustration: a buyer believes part of the LBTT on a transaction may be capable of deferral and searches Revenue Scotland guidance. They find this page and expect it to list the information needed for the application. It does not. Instead, it tells them that the guidance has been updated and points them to LBTT4016. The correct next step is to use LBTT4016 as the current source for what the application must contain.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The difficulty here is not a complicated legal test in the source itself. The difficulty is that the page title suggests it contains substantive requirements, but the current text does not. That can mislead readers into thinking they have found the right page when in fact they have only found a redirect.

Another practical issue is that tax guidance pages often remain accessible with revision histories, which can create confusion between current guidance and earlier versions. A reader needs to distinguish between:

• the current guidance now in force administratively
• older guidance that may explain historic practice
• the underlying legislation, which is legally primary

So the main judgement point here is not what this page means substantively, but whether you are using the correct and current source material for the transaction you are dealing with.

Key takeaways

• This page no longer sets out the content requirements for an LBTT deferral application.
• Revenue Scotland directs readers to the updated guidance in LBTT4016.
• For any live transaction, use the current guidance rather than relying on this page alone.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guide on Deferring LBTT Payment: Application Content and Recent Updates

View all LBTT Guidance Pages Here