LTT debt recovery: debtor contact notices in Wales
Debtor contact notices at a glance
The WRA can ask a qualifying third party for contact details to help collect money already owed. The power is limited and has protections for certain charity-related free services.
- The notice must name the debtor.
- It must state when, how and in what form details are required.
- Ignoring it can lead to a penalty.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
LTT debt recovery: debtor contact notices in Wales
The Welsh Revenue Authority may seek your contact details from another person or organisation if you owe it money connected with Land Transaction Tax (LTT), Wales’ version of stamp duty. This request is known as a debtor contact notice.
It helps the WRA collect an existing debt. It is not a general investigation into your tax affairs.
What this rule is about
The Welsh Revenue Authority, or WRA, needs to be able to contact people who owe it money. An outdated address can prevent this. A debtor contact notice lets the WRA ask a third party for the debtor’s address and other contact details.
This power has limits. The WRA cannot ask anyone for information merely because it wants to find out more about a person’s tax position.
That distinction matters.
What the official source says
Section 93 allows the WRA to give this notice only when it reasonably needs contact details to collect money owed. It must also have reasonable grounds to believe that the third party holds those details.
- The notice must help collect an existing amount owed to the WRA.
- The WRA must reasonably need the contact details for that purpose.
- The WRA must reasonably believe the third party has the details.
- The third party may be a company or an unincorporated association.
- Alternatively, the WRA must reasonably believe that the third party obtained the details through carrying on a business, rather than through a private connection alone.
- Business includes earning income from land, wherever that land is.
- Business also includes a profession, charity work, and public-authority activities.
Contact details cover the debtor’s address and other information showing how the debtor can be reached. The WRA’s guidance states that other powers deal with wider tax investigations, including enquiries, information notices and inspections, rather than a debtor contact notice.
Charity protections apply as well. A charity cannot receive this notice where it obtained the details while providing services free of charge.
This remains so even though the notice is limited to collecting an existing amount owed to the WRA. A non-charity is also barred if it obtained the details while providing those free services for a charity.
What this means in practice
A notice does not require the third party to explain the debt or provide wider personal records. Its narrower purpose is to obtain contact details in the manner the notice specifies.
The notice itself should provide clarity. It must identify the debtor. It must also give the period, method and form for supplying the details.
- Read the notice closely and check who it names.
- Check the deadline or period stated in it.
- Check the method requested, such as the way information must be sent.
- Give only the contact details that the notice requires.
- Keep a copy of what you provide and when you provide it.
- Do not ignore the notice: failure to comply can lead to a penalty.
How to analyse it
Start with the role of the person who received the notice. Do not ask only, “Do they know the debtor?” Consider instead whether the legal conditions for this type of notice have been met.
- Is there money already owed to the WRA?
- Does the WRA appear to need these details to collect it?
- Does the recipient actually hold the debtor’s contact details?
- Is the recipient a company or unincorporated association?
- If not, did the recipient get the details through a business activity?
- Was the information obtained while providing free services for a charity?
- Does the notice clearly state the debtor, period, method and form?
- Is there a possible basis to seek a review or appeal?
People may overlook that, under the guidance’s description of the rule, a private connection alone is insufficient. The recipient must have a link to a business, company or association, unless the recipient falls within those categories.
Example
Imagine that Megan owes money to the WRA. She rents out land and earns income from it. A letting business holds Megan’s current address as part of that business activity.
The WRA reasonably needs the address to collect the debt and reasonably believes that the business holds it. In those circumstances, it may issue a notice naming Megan and stating when and how the business must provide her contact details.
Change one fact. If a charity learned Megan’s details only while giving her free help, the guidance says the WRA cannot issue that charity with this type of notice.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Terms such as “reasonably requires” and “reasonable grounds” depend on the facts known to the WRA. Recipients may also have to determine why they hold the details. That can be less obvious than it sounds.
- A contact may have started as a private one, then become part of business work.
- A charity may provide some services free and others for payment.
- Where a business acts for a charity, it may need to check whether the recipient received the service free of charge before responding to the notice.
- The notice may request a form or method that the recipient overlooks.
- The guidance mentions review and appeal rights, but not the specific situations when they apply.
WRA guidance is not the law itself. Section 93 provides the legal basis. Anyone who has received a notice should check the current statutory wording and any later changes.
Key takeaways
- A debtor contact notice helps the WRA find someone who already owes it money.
- The WRA cannot use this notice simply to investigate a person’s tax position.
- Business links and charity protections can decide whether the notice is available.
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
- TCMA 2016 section 93 — debtor contact notices for collecting money owed
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.
Where this is not settled
- The supplied guidance does not explain the specific grounds for a review or appeal.
- The skill bundle did not contain the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 or a currency notice, so the current text of section 93 and any later changes need checking before relying on this page for a live case.
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 notice itself, including the named debtor and every requirement.
- Evidence of how the third party obtained the contact details.
- Evidence of whether services were free and connected with a charity.
- Records showing whether the third party holds current contact details.
- Any facts supporting a review or appeal against the notice.
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 LTT debt recovery: debtor contact notices in Wales [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 - TCMA 2016 section 93 - debtor contact notices for collecting money owed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2016/6/section/93 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/tax-collection-and-management-wales-act-2016-debt-recovery-technical-guidance#6670 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. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - The supplied guidance does not explain the specific grounds for a review or appeal. - The skill bundle did not contain the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 or a currency notice, so the current text of section 93 and any later changes need checking before relying on this page for a live case. 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
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