The Scottish Government has followed Westminster in announcing a 3% tax surcharge for purchasers of buy-to-let and second homes.
Scottish finance minister John Swinney said yesterday that the surcharge will be levied through Scotland’s Land and Buildings Transaction Tax levy from April, on purchases of over £40,000.
The move was expected.
Bob Cherry, of Scottish firm CKD Galbraith, said: “Today’s announcement regarding the introduction of a three per cent surcharge on the full purchase price of all additional property from April next year will undoubtedly lead to a flurry of second-home purchases and buy-to-let property sales before the end of March to beat the deadline.
“This new levy will have implications for current landlords looking to sell as well as act as yet another deterrent to would-be landlords thinking about the market as an investment opportunity.
“This measure, like the LBTT rises introduced earlier this year, is also a wealth tax on owners as buyers of buy-to-lets will seek to pass on the extra purchase costs by reducing the price they are prepared to pay.”
Comments (1)
Regulation and taxation is an important role of any government, however the Scottish government are unwise to think that trying to turn private landlords into social landlords will solve the housing crisis. Best practice, high standards and an improvement for tenants in real terms will not be the end result of a command economy approach.