Tax: a mission to inform

One of the most important milestones recently achieved on our journey to establishing Revenue Scotland as the tax authority for the devolved taxes in Scotland was the launch of our website, www.revenue.scot, an essential communication medium for the successful operation of the new taxes.

The site currently provides calculators for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and information on the devolved taxes, Revenue Scotland and its powers and obligations. The website will be regularly updated over the next few months, including publishing guidance for the taxes in February. In the meantime, it has a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs). We will add to these over the next few weeks and will also publish transitional guidance for SDLT and LBTT, jointly prepared with HMRC. We will also introduce additional functionality to the website, such as the ability to sign up for and use the portal through which online tax returns and electronic payments will be made.

Roadshow heads-up

Since the announcement in October of the proposed rates and bands for LBTT and Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) in the Scottish Government’s draft Budget, Revenue Scotland has carried out extensive communication and engagement activity with stakeholders to raise awareness of the changes happening over the next few months.

Of particular interest to conveyancers, particularly those who will be making LBTT returns, we will be staging a series of roadshows across Scotland early next year. These events will include a walkthrough of the new LBTT returns form and submission process. We fully appreciate the significant changes that the conveyancing profession will be adapting to, following the implementation of the new land registration rules earlier this month. Indeed, you may have visited our stand and picked up an information sheet or spoken to someone from Revenue Scotland at one of the RoS Land Registration roadshow events. We hope that our Revenue Scotland LBTT roadshows will build on that and help practitioners understand what they need to do about the fast approaching changes arising from the implementation of LBTT.

Information about dates, locations and how to register for these events will shortly be available on the Revenue Scotland website. The website will also carry information about the secondary legislation for the devolved taxes, which is due to be laid before the Scottish Parliament shortly.

Collaboration is key

Underlining our commitment to engagement is the statutory requirement on Revenue Scotland to consult on and produce a Charter of Standards and Values. Informal discussions have been held with key stakeholders, including the Law Society of Scotland. A formal consultation on a draft Charter will take place in early 2015. The Charter will set out what taxpayers and agents can expect from Revenue Scotland and what Revenue Scotland expects of taxpayers and agents.

Revenue Scotland will start collecting and managing the devolved taxes in just over three months. While there is undoubtedly more work to do, we remain confident that our policy of working collaboratively with stakeholders and representative bodies has helped us understand and deal constructively with their views and concerns, to ensure that Revenue Scotland is well prepared to collect and administer Scotland’s devolved taxes from 1 April 2015.