How to check a genuine Land Transaction Tax email
Checking LTT emails
The Welsh Revenue Authority gives practical signs to help you check whether an email about Land Transaction Tax is genuine.
- Check the sender address and reference number.
- Expect links only in the situations the authority describes.
- Paste links into your browser rather than clicking them.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
How to check a genuine Land Transaction Tax email
A genuine Land Transaction Tax (LTT) email from the Welsh Revenue Authority should follow clear patterns, so before replying or sharing information you should check the sender, any reference number, and every link against those patterns. Stay cautious. This helps avoid Welsh stamp-duty phishing scams.
What this rule is about
Phishing emails try to look real. To make you click a link, they may frame a tax question, a payment request, or an urgent message as something requiring immediate action. Pause first.
The Welsh Revenue Authority has published checks for its emails. This is practical safety guidance, not a tax rule. It helps you decide whether an email appears to come from the authority.
What the official source says
The authority says its emails will come from addresses containing “@wra.gov.wales” or, for Welsh-language emails, “@acc.llyw.cyrmu”. There is one stated exception for a new agent registration.
- New online-filing agents may receive Microsoft codes.
- The authority says it sends links when replying to your tax query.
- A registered agent may also receive links in automatic operational updates.
- Those links should lead to GOV.WALES or LLYW.CYMRU websites.
- The authority says it will not send links if you have not contacted it before.
What this means in practice
Do not treat a familiar-looking logo or urgent wording as proof, because even when both appear convincing, you should begin with the sender address and then compare the message with real contact you have had with the authority. Check it carefully.
A reference number can also help you check the message. The source says a genuine email should include either a unique transaction reference number, known as a UTRN, or a case reference number.
- Check that the sender address uses one of the domains stated by the authority.
- Look for a UTRN or a case reference number in the email.
- Think about whether you recently sent the authority a tax query.
- If you are an agent, consider whether you are registered and receive operational updates.
- Copy a link into your browser rather than clicking it directly.
How to analyse it
Work through the checks in order. One reassuring detail may support an email, yet it cannot settle everything when the sender, reference number, contact history, or link does not fit the authority’s stated pattern. Take extra care.
- Read the full sender address, not only the display name.
- Ask whether you are a first-time agent registering to file tax online.
- Check whether the email gives a UTRN or case reference number.
- Hover over text links, where your device allows it, to see the full web address.
- Check that the displayed address starts with “https://”.
- Check GOV.WALES or LLYW.CYMRU links as stated.
- Paste the address into your browser instead of opening the link from the email.
Example
Sam sends the Welsh Revenue Authority a question about an LTT return. A later email includes a case reference number and a link to GOV.WALES. That fits the pattern described in the guidance, because it is a reply to Sam’s query.
Now change one fact. Sam receives an unexpected email with a link but has never contacted the authority. The guidance says the authority will not send links in that situation. Sam should not assume that message is genuine.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Scam messages can copy official names and language. A display name may look right while the underlying email address does not. This is the part people can miss when reading quickly on a phone.
The Microsoft exception is narrow. It applies to first-time online tax registration. It does not say that every email from Microsoft about tax is genuine.
- A familiar name in the sender line is not the same as checking the full address.
- A link beginning with “https://” should still be checked against the expected website.
- An agent update is relevant only where the agent is registered with the authority.
- A reference number should be checked alongside the other signs, not in isolation.
Key takeaways
- Check the full sender address before trusting an LTT email.
- Unexpected links are a warning sign if you have not contacted the authority.
- Paste links into your browser instead of clicking them from the email.
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.
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.
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 How to check a genuine Land Transaction Tax email [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.] Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/welsh-revenue-authority-tax-related-phishing-and-scams 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: How to check a genuine Land Transaction Tax email
Search Land Tax Advice with Google
