Edinburgh pays top share of property tax

Edinburgh home-buyers are paying nearly a third of all Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, according to new data from Revenue Scotland.

The agency has broken down takings from different council areas. No other area pays more than 9% of the total.

The levy used to be known as Stamp Duty, and has been devolved from Westminster to Holyrood.

Edinburgh is paying more mainly because it has more expensive properties, and these carry a higher rate of tax.

The higher rated properties across Scotland, selling for more than £325,000, account for 8% of all transactions, but 55% of all the LBTT revenue.

More than half of home sales are below the £145,000 threshold at which the tax starts to apply.

Published information

Revenue Scotland chief executive Elaine Lorimer said: “The report gives a more detailed breakdown than other published information.

“For example the report provides an analysis of tax trends across different local authority areas, showing variations in tax revenue across geographical areas – key information which has been requested by our data users.”

“Revenue Scotland prides itself on being an open and transparent organisation and the data we release is guided by clear principles – protection of taxpayer information, transparency, accuracy, impartiality, objectivity, quality, coordination and consistency.”

Edinburgh home-owners also pay nearly quarter (23%) of the revenue gained from the supplement on LBTT, introduced in 2016, which applies to second homes and buy-to-let properties.

That Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) raised £122m last financial year, up by 19%.