Foreign currency property prices: converting them for Welsh LTT
Foreign currency and Welsh LTT
A property price in another currency must be converted into sterling for LTT. The usual rate is the London closing exchange rate on the effective date, unless the parties used another rate for their deal.
- Check the contract rate first.
- Use the correct effective date.
- Keep evidence of every conversion.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Foreign currency property prices: converting them for Welsh LTT
Foreign currency property prices: converting them for Welsh LTT
If you buy Welsh property using euros, dollars or Bitcoin, you must turn the amount into pounds for Land Transaction Tax (LTT). This is Wales’s property purchase tax, sometimes called stamp duty. The exchange rate can change the tax result, so the date and rate matter.
What this rule is about
You work out LTT in sterling. This is simple when the parties state the price in pounds. It becomes less simple where the price is in another currency.
The law sets a default way to convert the amount. The law also recognises that, when buyer and seller used their own exchange rate for the deal, that agreed rate can govern the conversion instead.
What the official source says
Schedule 4 paragraph 10 requires you to convert any foreign-currency amount into sterling when you calculate LTT, whatever currency the parties chose for payment. Normally, use the effective-date London closing rate.
- Start with the amount paid in the other currency.
- Use the London closing exchange rate on the effective date.
- Use the parties’ different rate if they used one for the deal.
- Work through every conversion where an intermediate currency is needed.
- WRA guidance says this includes electronic currencies such as Bitcoin.
What this means in practice
Do not use your transfer-day rate. Nor should you choose a rate because it gives a lower sterling figure. The LTT rules set the relevant date.
Where the parties actually used a rate for the deal, that rate replaces the London closing rate even if a different rate applied on the effective date. Keep clear evidence of that rate.
- Read the contract for an exchange-rate clause.
- Check the effective date before finding a rate.
- Keep the calculation with the LTT records.
- Record each stage if the payment passed through another currency.
How to analyse it
Ask one question at a time. What matters is not where the buyer lives or where their bank account is held. Focus on the currency of the amount paid and on the rate the parties used for the property deal.
- Is any part of the price stated outside sterling?
- What is the effective date of the transaction?
- Did the contract set, or did the parties use, a different rate?
- If not, what was the London closing rate on that date?
- Does the conversion need an intermediate currency before sterling?
- Can you show how the final sterling figure was reached?
Example
Illustration: Asha agrees to pay €200,000 for a property. The parties use a contract rate of £0.85 for each euro. The sterling amount is therefore £170,000. Use that agreed rate rather than a different London closing rate for the effective date.
If the parties had not used a rate for the deal, you would instead start the calculation with the London closing rate on the effective date. The official source does not prescribe a different shortcut for that situation.
Why this can be difficult in practice
This is the part people can miss: the date for the tax calculation may not be the date you sent the money. A contract can also refer to a rate indirectly, so the paperwork needs careful reading.
Bitcoin can move quickly in value, and the conversion may pass through dollars or another currency before it reaches pounds, which means each stage needs attention. WRA’s guidance says you should make each necessary conversion.
- Do not assume the bank’s transfer-day rate decides the result.
- Do not ignore a rate written into the contract.
- Do not treat a Bitcoin value as already being a sterling amount.
- Do not skip an intermediate conversion in the calculation.
Key takeaways
- LTT amounts must be worked out in sterling.
- The default is the London closing rate on the effective date.
- A different rate used for the deal can take priority.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 4 para 10 — converting foreign-currency property prices into sterling
Official guidance
The pages below are the Welsh Revenue Authority’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how the Welsh Revenue Authority reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. the Welsh Revenue Authority can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- the contract and any agreed exchange-rate term
- the transaction’s effective date
- records showing the exchange rate or conversion path used
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching Land Transaction Tax (LTT), the tax on property in Wales. It replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales on 1 April 2018, and SDLT does not apply in Wales. MY QUESTION Foreign currency property prices: converting them for Welsh LTT [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - LTTA 2017 Schedule 4 para 10 - converting foreign-currency property prices into sterling https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/4/paragraph/10 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/chargeable-consideration-technical-guidance#5115 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from the Welsh Revenue Authority is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 3 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Foreign currency property prices: converting them for Welsh LTT
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