Scheduled Revenue Scotland SETS changes

You may have already seen our news updates online, explaining that Revenue Scotland is upgrading its tax collection system (SETS). This will affect customers submitting applications both to Registers of Scotland and Revenue Scotland.

During the scheduled upgrading of SETS, there will be a planned period of maintenance from 4pm on 18 July until 12 noon on 24 July, meaning SETS will be offline for approximately 3.5 working days.

In addition to the downtime, customers should note that with the new system, Registers of Scotland will cease processing paper applications on behalf of Revenue Scotland, and returns should be sent directly to Revenue Scotland. This change takes effect from the start of the planned period of maintenance.

What impact does the downtime have on applications for registration?

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is a charge on land transactions in Scotland. A LBTT return must be submitted and payment made to Revenue Scotland before Registers of Scotland can complete registration of title.

Ahead of the downtime, we would encourage customers where possible to please submit LBTT returns by 4pm on Thursday 18 July. Provided a valid LBTT return has been received before that time, registration will be completed as normal.

We will continue to process applications during the downtime period. You can still submit returns during this time, by submitting a paper return to Revenue Scotland.

Any paper returns submitted during this maintenance period must be submitted with a cheque to cover payment of any tax due, as BACS is not available for paper returns. Further detail can be found on the Revenue Scotland website.

During the downtime, it may not be possible for RoS to confirm compliance with section 43(1) of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 (also known as s43). Only where LBTT returns have been submitted before 4pm on Thursday 18 July will we be able to confirm compliance. Revenue Scotland will be providing written acknowledgment for receipt of paper LBTT forms, but this will not sufficiently meet the requirements for s43 compliance. 

Though applications that don’t comply with s43 would normally be rejected, during the downtime valid applications for registration will enter the application record and be assigned a title number as usual, with completion of registration delayed until such time as compliance can be checked. 

Compliance checks will resume when the new system is live, and Registers of Scotland and Revenue Scotland are working closely together to undertake these checks as quickly as possible, to ensure a minimum of disruption to customers.

What impact does the change to paper returns and cheque payments have on applications for registration?  

All paper returns and cheques should be sent to Revenue Scotland from 19 July. 

For a transitional period of 30 days from this date, we will forward paper returns and cheques to Revenue Scotland for processing. After that period, any paper returns we receive will be returned to the submitting agent.

Sending paper returns to Registers of Scotland after 19 July could result in a rejection of the application for registration and a subsequent delay in the processing of tax payment.