Manage Admin and User Accounts for Land Transaction Tax Online

Managing administrator and user access for Land Transaction Tax online

The Welsh Revenue Authority’s Land Transaction Tax online service uses an organisation account linked to named individual users. Administrators control access by adding users, activating or deactivating them, and changing administrator status. In practice, this is important for compliance because users cannot file or view returns until they have the correct access, and organisations should keep access up to date when staff join, change roles, or leave.

• The first administrator account must be set up using the same email address used when the organisation registered, together with the organisation’s registration number.
• Passwords and account details should not be shared; each person who needs access should have their own user account.
• Administrators can add new users, activate or deactivate them, and switch a user between ordinary user and administrator status.
• A new user may be invited by an administrator or may create their own account first, but they cannot submit returns or view the organisation’s returns until an administrator activates them.
• Users who leave or no longer need access should be deactivated immediately, and temporarily absent users can be reactivated later.
• If the organisation no longer has an online administrator, it should contact the Welsh Revenue Authority to regain control of the account.

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Managing administrator and user access for Land Transaction Tax online

This page explains how an organisation sets up and manages access to the Welsh Revenue Authority’s Land Transaction Tax online service. The official guidance is mainly procedural, but it matters in practice because only the right users, with the right status, can file returns, view returns, or manage access for others.

What this rule is about

The Welsh Revenue Authority’s online LTT service is organised around an organisation account and individual user accounts linked to it. Within that structure, some users are ordinary users and some are administrators.

The key practical difference is that an administrator can control access for the organisation. That includes adding users, activating or deactivating them, and changing whether someone is an administrator or an ordinary user.

This is not a tax liability rule. It is an access and control rule for using the online filing system. Even so, it has obvious compliance consequences. If the wrong person has access, or the right person is not activated, your organisation may not be able to file or manage LTT returns properly.

What the official source says

The WRA guidance says an administrator account is created using the same email address that was used when the organisation was first registered. A verification code is sent by Microsoft to that email address and must be used within 10 minutes. The user then creates a password, enters their name, and provides the organisation’s registration number issued when the organisation registered. The account is then automatically activated.

The guidance also says account details and passwords should not be shared. If another person in the organisation needs access, they should have their own user account.

According to the guidance, an administrator can:

• add new users to the organisation’s account
• activate and deactivate users
• change a user into an administrator, or change an administrator back into an ordinary user

The WRA describes two ways to add new users:

• an administrator creates the new user in the system, using only the person’s name and email address, and the system sends that person an email inviting them to create a password
• the new user creates their own account first, and then the organisation’s administrator activates that account

The guidance states that users who are awaiting activation can be seen on the “manage online users” page. An administrator can change their status to active. Once active, the user can submit returns and view draft and submitted returns for the organisation.

The guidance also says that if a user leaves the organisation or no longer needs access, an administrator should deactivate them immediately. If the person leaves only temporarily, they can later be reactivated by following the activation steps again.

If an organisation no longer has an online administrator because that person has left, the WRA says the organisation should contact it.

What this means in practice

The system appears to be designed around named individual access rather than shared team logins. In practice, that means each person who needs to work on LTT online should have their own account, and an administrator should control who is active at any given time.

For day-to-day compliance, there are three practical points.

First, creating the initial administrator account depends on matching the email address used when the organisation registered. If your organisation no longer controls that inbox, setup may be delayed until that issue is resolved.

Second, a user does not simply gain filing rights by creating an account. They must also be activated by an administrator before they can submit returns or view the organisation’s draft and submitted returns.

Third, access management is a live control issue, not a one-off setup step. If staff move roles or leave, the organisation should update access promptly. The WRA guidance is explicit that users who leave or no longer need access should be deactivated immediately.

How to analyse it

If you are trying to work out what needs to happen, ask these questions in order:

• Has the organisation already registered for LTT online?
• Does the organisation still have access to the email address used at registration?
• Has an administrator account been created using that email address and the organisation’s registration number?
• Does each person who needs access have their own individual account rather than shared credentials?
• Has each new user merely signed up, or have they also been activated by an administrator?
• Does the user need ordinary access only, or administrator rights as well?
• Are there any former staff or temporary leavers whose accounts should be deactivated?
• If there is no current administrator, does the organisation need to contact the WRA to restore control?

Using that framework helps separate account creation from account activation, and ordinary access from administrator rights.

Example

An LTT filing team has one existing administrator and two new staff members.

The first new staff member is added by the administrator through the “manage online users” area. The administrator enters the person’s name and email address. The system sends an invitation email, and the new user creates their password. The administrator then checks the user list and sets that person’s status to active. That person can now submit returns and view the organisation’s draft and submitted returns.

The second new staff member creates their own online account first. But until the administrator changes their status to active, that person cannot file or view returns for the organisation.

Later, the original administrator goes on long-term leave. Before leaving, they upgrade another user to administrator status. That allows the organisation to continue managing access without interruption.

Why this can be difficult in practice

The official guidance is straightforward, but a few practical issues can still arise.

One is confusion between creating an account and activating it. A person may think they are ready to file because they have set a password, but the guidance makes clear that activation by an administrator is a separate step.

Another is loss of control over the original registration email address. The setup process for the administrator account depends on that email address and a time-limited verification code. If the organisation no longer has access to that mailbox, internal handover problems may become a filing problem.

A further issue is governance. The guidance says passwords should not be shared. In practice, that means organisations should avoid informal workarounds such as team logins or passing credentials between staff. The system is intended to reflect who actually has access and who is responsible for managing it.

There may also be operational risk if an organisation has only one administrator. The guidance does not require more than one, but it does allow administrators to add or remove another administrator. In practice, having more than one current administrator may help avoid loss of access if someone leaves unexpectedly.

Key takeaways

• The initial administrator account must be created using the same email address used when the organisation registered and the organisation’s registration number.
• New users do not gain full access just by signing up; an administrator must activate them before they can file or view the organisation’s returns.
• Administrators should keep the user list up to date and deactivate users immediately if they leave or no longer need access.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Manage Admin and User Accounts for Land Transaction Tax Online

View all WRA LTT Guidance Pages Here