3. The Section 43 Search

General

Where a transaction has been identified as a notifiable transaction in terms of section 30 of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013, a check must be carried out by CAJR to confirm that the relevant LBTT provisions have been met in relation to that transaction. This check will involve details of the notifiable transaction being compared to details of completed LBTT returns held on the tax server.

Where a notifiable transaction cannot be matched to completed LBTT return details held on the tax server, the Keeper is prohibited from accepting the application to register that deed in the Books in Council and Session in terms of section 43(1) of said 2013 Act. That application would then require to be rejected.

Searching the tax server

There are seven main searchable fields in the tax server to assist you in matching an application to register a notifiable transaction with a completed LBTT return.

Fields which are searchable in the tax server:

1. Title number
2. Property address
3. Buyer forename
4. Buyer surname
5. Seller forename
6. Seller surname
7. Postcode

Two other fields can be used to limit the extent of the data searched against, namely "From date" and "End date".

Basically the "more is less" rule applies when interrogating the tax server; the more data input into the searchable fields, the less "hits" will be found, thereby making it easier to match up the relevant LBTT return. Not all searchable fields are mandatory and this will determine whether a valid match can be made or whether the application should be rejected. For example, the "title number" field is a non-mandatory field therefore, if all the other relevant data matches, a valid match can be made (this has particular relevance to joint recording applications involving DWs or TPs).

The do's and don'ts of searching: to match or reject?

This guidance covers scenarios where a match between a notifiable transaction and completed LBTT return details held has been found on the tax server but some of the tax server data does not fully match the same information in the notifiable transaction. 

There is another field which, although not searchable, can assist in matching up a return with the application, namely the consideration. Also, the effective date may also assist in matching up a return with the application. Again, this is not a searchable field but it appears on the return. However, be aware that the effective date may not always match the date of entry stated on either the application form or the deed. See 2. The Effective Date for further information regarding the effective date and also further guidance in this regard can be found on the Revenues Scotland website under LBTT.

An LBTT return cannot be submitted without the consideration and effective date being input into the online Revenue Scotland system.