Draft Scottish tax regulations published

A series of 10 draft sets of regulations covering the administration of the new Scottish taxes has been published for consultation by the Scottish Government.

Made under the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, they provide the administrative powers for the Revenue Scotland tax authority that will collect and enforce the new land and buildings transaction tax – which will replace stamp duty land tax – and the Scottish landfill tax, both of which come into force from April 2015.

The Act contains a significant number of powers for Scottish ministers which enable them to specify how aspects of the legislation will operate in practice. The Government indicated during the passage of the bill that it would publish and invite comments on draft regulations ahead of 1 April 2015, and this consultation discharges that commitment.

The paper provides a brief overview of each of the powers which the Government intends to exercise together with drafts of the relevant instruments. To provide as much clarity as possible, different powers have been grouped together where they relate to the same subject matter. For completeness, a list of the powers which the Government does not intend to exercise at the outset (although they may be needed at some future date) is also set out.

Click here to access the consultation. The deadline for responses is 9 January 2015.

Update on 10 October 2014: A further consultation, with the same closing date, has been published covering the First-tier and Upper Tax Tribunal Rules: click here to view.