LBTT Charities Relief: Tax Guidance for Charitable Land Transactions in Scotland
LBTT charities relief for buying land in Scotland
LBTT charities relief can reduce or remove Land and Buildings Transaction Tax when a charity or charitable trust buys land in Scotland, but only if the land will be held mainly for qualifying charitable purposes and the transaction is not part of LBTT avoidance. The rules also cover joint purchases, some partnership transfers and situations where relief can later be withdrawn.
- A qualifying charity, certain non-Scottish charitable bodies and charitable trusts may claim relief if they hold, or intend to hold, the land or most of it for recognised charitable purposes.
- Relief is not available if the transaction is entered into to avoid LBTT, even if a charity is involved.
- In a joint purchase with a non-charity, relief is limited to the lower of the charity’s share of the property and the share of the purchase price it actually pays.
- For certain partnership transactions, relief is only available if all partnership property immediately after the transfer is held for qualifying charitable purposes; there is no part relief under these rules.
- Relief can be clawed back if, within three years, the charity stops being established only for charitable purposes or the land is used or held for non-charitable purposes.
- If relief is withdrawn, the charity must file a further LBTT return within 30 days of the disqualifying event and pay any tax due.
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Read the original guidance here:
LBTT Charities Relief: Tax Guidance for Charitable Land Transactions in Scotland
LBTT charities relief: when a charity buying land in Scotland can claim relief
This page explains when Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) relief is available because the buyer is a charity. The relief can remove the tax entirely, or reduce it in a joint purchase. It is useful, but it is not automatic in every transaction involving a charity. The land must be held for qualifying charitable purposes, and the transaction must not form part of tax avoidance.
What this rule is about
Schedule 13 to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 gives relief where a charity acquires land in Scotland and certain conditions are met.
The basic idea is straightforward. If a genuine charity acquires land to use for its charitable work, or to hold in a way that supports that work, LBTT relief may be available. But the legislation also protects against misuse. Relief is not available if the transaction is entered into for the purpose of avoiding LBTT.
The relief applies not only to charities in the ordinary sense, but also to charitable trusts. There are also special rules for some partnership transactions.
What the official source says
The official guidance says that both qualifying conditions must be met:
- the charity or charitable trust must hold, or intend to hold, the land acquired (or the greater part of it) for qualifying charitable purposes; and
- the transaction must not be entered into for the purpose of the buyer, or anyone else, avoiding LBTT.
For this relief, “charitable purposes” uses the same broad list found in Scottish charity law. It includes purposes such as relieving poverty, advancing education, religion or health, saving lives, supporting community development, arts, culture, science, sport, recreation aimed at improving conditions of life, human rights, equality, environmental protection, relief of need, animal welfare, and purposes reasonably analogous to those categories.
A body registered in the Scottish Charity Register can claim the relief. It may also be available to certain bodies managed or controlled outside Scotland, if their purposes consist only of one or more of the recognised charitable purposes and they are established under the law of the rest of the UK, another EU member state, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
The guidance also says the relief applies to charitable trusts in the same way. A charitable trust is a trust where all beneficiaries are charities, or a unit trust scheme where all unit holders are charities.
If a charity buys jointly with a non-charity, only partial relief may be available. The relief is based on the lower of:
- the charity’s share in the property, and
- the proportion of the purchase price paid by the charity.
For certain partnership transactions treated as chargeable under schedule 17, the transaction is exempt if the transferee is a charity and the qualifying conditions are met. In that context, relief is only available if every chargeable interest held as partnership property immediately after the transfer is held for qualifying charitable purposes. There is no partial relief where some partnership property is held for charitable purposes and some is not.
The guidance also explains that relief can later be withdrawn, in whole or in part, if a disqualifying event occurs. Broadly, that happens if within three years:
- the charity ceases to be established only for charitable purposes; or
- the land, or a derived interest in it, is used or held for non-charitable purposes.
Withdrawal can also happen after the three-year period if the later event results from arrangements put in place during that three-year period.
Where only part of the land was acquired for charitable purposes, certain dealings with non-charities are also treated as disqualifying events, including a transfer to a non-charity or the grant at a premium of a low-rental lease to a non-charity.
If relief is withdrawn, the charity must submit a further LBTT return within 30 days of the disqualifying event and calculate the tax now due.
What this means in practice
The key practical question is not simply whether the buyer is a charity. It is whether the charity will hold the land, or most of it, for qualifying charitable purposes.
That means you need to look at the intended use of the property at the time of acquisition. A building used for the charity’s activities may qualify. Land held as an investment may also qualify if that fits within the statutory concept of qualifying charitable purposes as applied by the legislation. In partnership cases, the guidance is more explicit: investment use can qualify if profits are applied to the charitable purposes of the partners.
The anti-avoidance condition also matters. Even if a charity is involved, relief is not available if the transaction is entered into for LBTT avoidance. The guidance does not set out a detailed test for that question, so it is likely to depend heavily on the facts and purpose of the arrangements.
Joint purchases need particular care. A charity does not automatically secure relief for the whole transaction if a non-charity is also buying. Instead, the relief is restricted by a formula. The lower of the charity’s ownership share and its contribution to the purchase price determines the percentage of LBTT that can be relieved.
The clawback rules are also important. A charity may claim relief correctly on day one, but lose all or part of it later if the property stops being held for qualifying charitable purposes, or if certain transfers or lease arrangements are made. This means the charity’s plans for the property in the three years after completion are relevant from the start.
How to analyse it
A sensible way to analyse a possible claim is to work through these questions:
- Is the buyer a qualifying charity or charitable trust for schedule 13 purposes?
- If the buyer is not registered in Scotland, does it still fall within the categories recognised by the legislation?
- What exactly is being acquired, and how will the land or buildings be held after completion?
- Will the land, or at least the greater part of it, be held for qualifying charitable purposes?
- Is there anything in the structure or purpose of the transaction that could suggest LBTT avoidance?
- If there is a joint purchase, what is the charity’s ownership share, and what proportion of the price is it actually paying?
- If a partnership is involved, are all chargeable interests held by the partnership after the transfer held for charitable purposes? If not, the special partnership relief will not be available.
- Could anything within the next three years amount to a disqualifying event?
For the withdrawal rules, it is also worth checking whether the charity will still hold the relevant chargeable interest, or an interest derived from it, when the later event occurs. That is part of the statutory mechanism for relief to be withdrawn.
Example
A Scottish registered charity buys a building to run an education centre. On the facts, the building is intended to be held for the advancement of education, which is one of the recognised charitable purposes. If the transaction is a genuine acquisition and not part of LBTT avoidance, relief may be claimed.
Now change the facts. The charity buys the property jointly with a commercial company. The charity takes a 40% share in the property but pays only 30% of the purchase price. The relief is not based on the 40% ownership share. It is based on the lower figure, so only 30% of the LBTT on the whole transaction would be relieved.
If, within three years, the charity starts using the property for non-charitable purposes, or transfers part of the land to a non-charity in a situation covered by the legislation, some or all of the relief may be withdrawn and a further LBTT return may be required.
Why this can be difficult in practice
The main difficulty is that the relief depends on purpose and use, not just status. A body may plainly be a charity, but that does not answer whether the land is being held for qualifying charitable purposes.
Another difficulty is the phrase “the greater part” of the subject matter. The guidance does not explain exactly how to measure that in every case. In some transactions it may be obvious. In mixed-use or multi-building sites, it may be less clear whether the greater part is being held for qualifying charitable purposes.
The anti-avoidance condition is also fact-sensitive. The guidance states the condition, but does not give a detailed framework for deciding when a transaction has been entered into for the purpose of avoiding LBTT. Where arrangements are unusual, circular, or involve connected parties, that question may require careful analysis.
The withdrawal rules can also be awkward in mixed-use situations. Where only part of the property was acquired for charitable purposes, the legislation can trigger partial withdrawal, and the amount to be withdrawn depends on what is still held and what is being used for non-charitable purposes immediately before the disqualifying event.
Partnership cases are especially strict. The guidance makes clear that all partnership property must meet the charitable-purpose condition immediately after the transfer. If some does and some does not, there is no partial relief under those partnership rules.
Key takeaways
- LBTT charities relief depends on both charitable status and qualifying charitable use of the land.
- Relief is blocked if the transaction is entered into for LBTT avoidance, and it can later be withdrawn if a disqualifying event occurs.
- Joint purchases and partnership transactions have special rules, and partial relief is not always available.
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Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: LBTT Charities Relief: Tax Guidance for Charitable Land Transactions in Scotland
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