Land Transaction Tax relief when land is bought for a trunk road
Trunk roads relief at a glance
A purchase connected with a Welsh trunk road may be fully relieved from LTT. It is not a general relief for road schemes.
- The Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State must be a party.
- The land must relate to a trunk road or future trunk road.
- Any LTT must otherwise be a Highways Act 1980 expense.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Land Transaction Tax relief when land is bought for a trunk road
Land Transaction Tax relief when land is bought for a trunk road
When land is acquired for a Welsh trunk road, Land Transaction Tax (LTT) may not be payable. LTT replaced stamp duty land tax in Wales in 2018. This relief is narrow: the Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State must be involved, and both legal tests must be satisfied.
What this rule is about
Private owners often supply land for road schemes. Road land can take several forms. It may be a strip beside an existing road, land for a new route, or land needed for a junction.
As a result, the law stops LTT from becoming part of a specified road expense. It does not, however, extend to every purchase connected with transport or development. Details matter.
What the official source says
According to Welsh Government technical guidance, Schedule 22 paragraph 7 provides full relief when a transaction meets two conditions. Guidance explains the position, but legislation is the law.
- The Welsh Ministers or the Secretary of State must be a party to the deal.
- The land must relate to a highway or proposed highway.
- That highway must already be, or be due to become, a trunk road.
- Without the relief, LTT must be payable as an expense of the Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State under the Highways Act 1980.
- When those conditions are met, the whole deal is relieved from LTT.
An unusual point in the official source concerns joint buyers. Joint buyers can receive full relief. This can apply where one joint buyer would not usually qualify for a relief.
What this means in practice
Instead of asking only whether a purchase supports a road scheme, consider whether it is for a trunk road and whether the tax would fall within the relevant Highways Act expense. That is the key test.
Although the distinction sounds technical, it may determine whether any LTT is due.
- A purchase for a local road does not qualify merely because it is a highway project.
- A future route can qualify if it is a proposed highway that is to become a trunk road.
- A deal involving the Welsh Ministers can still fail if the expense test is not met.
- Joint ownership does not automatically reduce this relief to one buyer’s share.
- The relief should be included in the first LTT return, or an amendment to that return.
How to analyse it
Take the tests in order. Do not assume that land near a trunk road qualifies at the outset. Paperwork for the particular scheme should provide the answer.
- Identify every party to the purchase.
- Check whether the Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State is a party.
- Identify the precise land being bought.
- Read the road plans and scheme documents.
- Ask whether the land relates to a highway or proposed highway.
- Confirm that the route is, or will become, a trunk road.
- Check why LTT would otherwise be payable and who would bear it.
- Keep records showing that the tax would be an expense under the Highways Act 1980.
- Make the relief claim in the LTT return or an amendment.
Example
Illustration: the Welsh Ministers and another organisation buy land needed for a planned route. Scheme documents establish that the route will become a trunk road. They also establish that any LTT would be a Highways Act 1980 expense. Full trunk roads relief can apply to the transaction, rather than relief only for the Welsh Ministers’ share.
One changed fact may produce a different answer. Where the land is for a road that will remain a local road, the trunk roads relief test is not met.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Facts, rather than the project label, will account for most disputes. Even where a plan describes land as supporting a road scheme, it may not show that the land relates to the relevant highway required for relief. Evidence is essential.
Public ownership may appear to settle the issue. It does not. Evidence of the road status and expense condition is still needed.
- Land beside a trunk road may be bought for a separate purpose.
- A proposed route may not yet have clear evidence that it will become a trunk road.
- Several public bodies may be involved, but the named party condition still matters.
- Joint buyers should not assume that ordinary partial-relief rules decide this case.
- Missing scheme records can make the expense condition hard to prove.
Key takeaways
- This is a full LTT relief for qualifying trunk road purchases.
- Both the trunk road test and the Highways Act expense test must be met.
- The official guidance says qualifying joint buyers can receive the relief in full.
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 22 para 7 — relief for trunk road land transactions
- LTTA 2017 section 30 — which reliefs remove a transaction from tax; when most land tax reliefs must be claimed
- LTTA 2017 section 37 — general rules where land has joint buyers
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
- Whether land relates to a highway or proposed highway may depend on the project plans and the land being bought.
- Whether LTT would be an expense under the Highways Act 1980 may need confirmation from the public body handling the road scheme.
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 transfer or contract showing that the Welsh Ministers or Secretary of State is a party.
- Road scheme plans and documents identifying the highway or proposed highway.
- Evidence that the route is, or will become, a trunk road.
- Records showing why any LTT would be a Highways Act 1980 expense.
- The LTT return or amended return recording the relief claim.
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 Land Transaction Tax relief when land is bought for a trunk road [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 22 para 7 - relief for trunk road land transactions https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/22/paragraph/7 - LTTA 2017 section 30 - which reliefs remove a transaction from tax https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/30 - LTTA 2017 section 30 - when most land tax reliefs must be claimed https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/30 - LTTA 2017 section 37 - general rules where land has joint buyers https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/37 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-miscellaneous-reliefs-technical-guidance#5865 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 - Whether land relates to a highway or proposed highway may depend on the project plans and the land being bought. - Whether LTT would be an expense under the Highways Act 1980 may need confirmation from the public body handling the road scheme. 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 4 September 2026
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