Tax information for tenants of commercial property

If you rent a commercial property, you may need to send a tax return and pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) to Revenue Scotland. If your lease is covered by LBTT, you also have ongoing responsibilities while you remain the tenant.

You must send an LBTT return within 30 days of the lease start date. This is usually the date you move in or the date the lease begins.

Your solicitor or agent can do this for you. If you want to send the return yourself, contact Revenue Scotland to ask for a paper form.

While you are the tenant, you must send a Lease Review Return to Revenue Scotland within 30 days of any of these events:

• every 3 years - you must send a return on every third anniversary of the lease start date, even if nothing has changed and no tax is due
• when you assign the lease - if you transfer the lease to someone else, you must send a return. After that, the new tenant becomes responsible for future returns
• when you end the lease - you must send a final return when the lease ends.

How to submit your return

You can submit your return online using the Revenue Scotland portal.

If you do not submit a return

If you do not send the return on time, you may get a penalty.

More information

Find full guidance on lease review returns on the Revenue Scotland website.