Guide to Submitting LBTT Lease Returns and Reviews for Tenants and Agents

Submitting an LBTT Lease Return or Lease Review Return in Scotland

In Scotland, LBTT lease returns can arise when a lease starts and again later on a review, assignation or termination. The filing method depends on who is submitting the return: a tenant acting alone may use Revenue Scotland’s public portal for certain later returns, while solicitors and agents must use SETS. The taxpayer must make sure the return is accurate, recalculate the total LBTT due on the lease, and pay any tax on time to avoid penalties and interest.

• A tenant without a solicitor or conveyancer can use the online taxpayer portal for a lease review, assignation or termination return, but not for a first-time lease return.
• Solicitors and agents must file through the Scottish Electronic Tax System (SETS), which is only available to registered organisational users.
• To complete a lease review return, you will usually need the lease document, start and end dates, the original LBTT transaction reference, the original effective date, a recalculation of total LBTT due, and details of tax already paid.
• LBTT is self-assessed, so the person responsible for the return must ensure the figures are correct and that any tax due is paid by the deadline.
• If a return or payment is late, penalties may apply, and interest runs on unpaid tax from the filing date until payment is made.
• In an assignation case, the assignor may be the person responsible for late filing or late payment, so liability should be checked carefully.

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How to submit an LBTT lease return or lease review return in Scotland

This page explains who can submit an LBTT lease return or further lease review return, which online system to use, what information is needed, and what happens if the return or tax is late. The source material is about process rather than the detailed tax calculation, but the practical point is important: lease transactions under LBTT often require follow-up returns, and the filing route depends on whether you are an agent or the tenant acting alone.

What this rule is about

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) applies to certain lease transactions in Scotland. A lease may require an initial return when it is first granted, and later returns if the lease is reviewed, assigned or terminated.

The official material here deals with how those returns are submitted. It distinguishes between:

• tenants acting without a solicitor or conveyancer, and
• agents or solicitors using Revenue Scotland’s organisational filing system.

It also highlights that LBTT is self-assessed. That means the taxpayer is responsible for making sure the return is accurate and, where tax is due, that it is paid on time.

What the official source says

Revenue Scotland says that a tenant without a solicitor or conveyancer can use the online taxpayer portal to submit a lease review, assignation or termination return. The service is for tenant taxpayers only, does not require sign-up, and allows 90 minutes to complete the return.

For that online lease review process, the tenant will need:

• the lease agreement, including the start and end dates
• the transaction reference for the original LBTT return
• the effective date of the original LBTT return
• a recalculation of the total LBTT payable on the lease
• details of how much LBTT has already been paid

The source also states that there is currently no online service for a taxpayer without a solicitor or conveyancer who needs to submit a first-time lease return.

Agents and solicitors can submit a lease return or lease review through the Scottish Electronic Tax System (SETS). That system is only for organisations and users registered in SETS. It is not available to private individuals acting in their own personal capacity.

On compliance, the source says that if the tenant, or in the case of an assignation the assignor, fails to submit the return or pay tax on time, penalties may apply. Interest is charged on unpaid tax from the submission date until payment is made.

What this means in practice

The first practical question is not the tax calculation. It is: who is filing, and what type of lease return is it?

If you are a tenant acting on your own, Revenue Scotland’s public online service can be used for later lease-related returns such as a review, assignation or termination. But that same route is not available for a first-time lease return.

If the return is being handled by a solicitor or agent, the filing is done through SETS instead. That is the standard professional route, but it requires registration as an organisation or authorised user.

The source material also makes clear that a lease review return is not just an administrative form. You need to recalculate the total LBTT payable on the lease and compare that with what has already been paid. In other words, the return may lead to additional tax becoming due, or it may confirm that no extra tax is payable, depending on the facts and the recalculation.

The mention of assignation is also important. In that situation, the source says the assignor is the person liable if the return is not submitted or tax is not paid on time. That is a specific point readers should not overlook.

How to analyse it

A sensible way to approach this is to work through the following questions.

• Is this a first-time lease return, or a later return such as a lease review, assignation or termination?
• Who is submitting the return: the tenant personally, or a solicitor or agent?
• If the tenant is filing personally, is the relevant online taxpayer service actually available for this type of return?
• Do you have the original LBTT transaction reference and effective date?
• Do you have the lease document and the key dates needed to identify the transaction properly?
• Have you recalculated the total LBTT payable on the lease, rather than looking only at what was paid originally?
• Have you checked how much LBTT has already been paid, so the new return reflects the correct net position?
• Is there any tax due on filing, and if so, can it be paid by the deadline to avoid interest and penalties?

This framework matters because lease returns are cumulative in effect. A later return depends on the original filing details and on an updated calculation of the lease position as a whole.

Example

Illustration: a tenant entered into a lease and an LBTT return was submitted when the lease began. Later, a lease review is required. The tenant is not using a solicitor. In that case, the tenant may be able to use Revenue Scotland’s taxpayer portal to submit the review return.

To do that properly, the tenant would need the original transaction reference, the effective date of the original return, the lease document showing the relevant dates, a recalculation of the total LBTT due on the lease, and details of the tax already paid. If the recalculation shows that more LBTT is due, late payment may trigger interest if it is not paid on time.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The filing rules themselves are straightforward, but the practical difficulty often lies in the recalculation. The source assumes that the person filing can work out the total LBTT payable on the lease and identify what has already been paid. That may be easy in a simple case, but not always.

Another difficulty is procedural. A tenant acting alone can use the public portal for certain later returns, but not for a first-time lease return. Readers may assume all lease returns can be filed through the same public system, but the source says that is not the case.

There is also scope for confusion where an assignation is involved. The source specifically refers to the assignor in relation to late filing or late payment liability. Anyone dealing with an assignation should therefore check carefully who is responsible for the return and any tax due.

Finally, the source page is about submission routes, not the full legal rules on when a lease review return is required or how LBTT on leases is calculated. Those issues sit within the wider LBTT lease regime and may need to be considered separately.

Key takeaways

• A tenant without a solicitor or conveyancer can use Revenue Scotland’s public portal for a lease review, assignation or termination return, but not for a first-time lease return.
• Agents and solicitors must use SETS, and that system is only for registered organisational users.
• LBTT is self-assessed, so the taxpayer must ensure the return is accurate, the lease tax is recalculated correctly, and any tax due is filed and paid on time.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Guide to Submitting LBTT Lease Returns and Reviews for Tenants and Agents

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