Revised land tax impact is being felt across the county

The introduction of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to replace stamp duty is having an “eye watering” impact on the property market in certain parts of Perth and Kinross, it has been claimed.

Perthshire-based Bell Ingram says the market picture is a complex one, with a range of effects being reported, including one buyer who has had to pay £130,000 in property taxes.

Bell Ingram’s role as a national land and estate agency firm means it is able to provide a unique perspective on the varied outcomes of the tax, informed by a wide network of agency offices across the country.

LBTT was introduced in Scotland in April 2015 in place of UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), with the aim of being designed so that the tax charge is more proportionate to the actual price of the property.

Carl Warden, of Bell Ingram’s Perth office, spoke of how the impact of the tax regime has been marked in Perthshire and the surrounding area.

Carl said: “We recently sold a property at £1.15m and the LBTT was £96,350, compared to stamp duty in the rest of the UK at only £58,750 - that’s a £37,600 difference.

“This transaction also attracted an additional 3% second home tax of £34,500, which was a grand total of an eye watering £130,850 in purchase taxes.

“Transactions attracting this level of tax are making people do one of two things; either not move at all, or negotiate hard on the asking price based on the vendor reducing their price by the level of tax due.”