Trouble paying Land Transaction Tax? Contact WRA early
Paying difficulties: the main point
If you cannot pay Land Transaction Tax, contact the Welsh Revenue Authority as soon as possible. It will ask about your circumstances and explore options, but the source does not promise any particular outcome.
- Phone 03000 254 000, Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm.
- You can also use WRA’s online contact form.
- Contacting WRA does not automatically change an LTT payment deadline.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Trouble paying Land Transaction Tax? Contact WRA early
Tell the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) as early as possible if you cannot pay your Land Transaction Tax bill, or think you may soon be unable to pay it. Land Transaction Tax is Wales’s stamp duty-style tax.
By making contact early, whether you already cannot pay, expect that you will not be able to pay, or are uncertain about payment, WRA can ask about your circumstances and explore ways to help you pay. Start the conversation early.
What this rule is about
Do not wait if you know payment may be difficult or expect a problem to arise. Waiting will not make a tax bill easier to deal with. Contact WRA promptly.
The official WRA page asks anyone with money worries, including people who only expect a problem, to get in touch as soon as possible before the problem becomes immediate. Do so early.
It does not promise a particular arrangement. Instead, it offers a practical way to explain what has happened while the payment problem is still less urgent and before the situation becomes more pressing. Act early.
What the official source says
WRA encourages people facing financial difficulty to contact it. It says it will ask about your situation so that it can explore all options to help you pay your tax bill.
- Call WRA on 03000 254 000.
- The listed phone hours are Monday to Friday, from 10am to 3pm.
- You can also use WRA’s online contact form.
- WRA welcomes calls and correspondence in Welsh.
What this means in practice
Do not assume that being unable to pay means there is nothing to do until you have the money. The source says that you should make contact when the difficulty arises, or when you expect it to arise, rather than waiting for either point to pass. Do not wait.
For an LTT return, tax is generally due by the return filing date. Contacting WRA is therefore not described as automatically changing that date.
- Explain the problem plainly and early.
- Say whether the difficulty is happening now or is expected soon.
- Keep the tax bill and relevant payment details to hand.
- Ask WRA what options it can explore in your situation.
How to analyse it
When you assess the immediate position, ask whether you can pay the bill when it is due, and if not, or if you are unsure, use the official contact route. Do not wait.
- Check the amount due and its payment date.
- Work out what has caused the financial difficulty.
- Consider when you expect your position to change.
- Contact WRA by phone or through its online form.
- Give an honest account of your circumstances when WRA asks.
Example
Huw has an LTT bill but expects a short-term cash problem before the payment date. He contacts WRA rather than waiting for the date to pass.
He explains that he expects difficulty paying and answers its questions about his situation. WRA can then explore the options available. The source does not say what outcome Huw will receive.
Why this can be difficult in practice
People often see a tax bill as an all-or-nothing problem: pay it in full or ignore it. The official guidance takes a different approach. It calls for early contact.
It does not set out what help will be available in every case. Outcomes vary.
- Contacting WRA does not guarantee a payment arrangement.
- The source does not say that a payment deadline pauses when you call.
- Your own financial facts will affect the discussion.
- Phone hours and contact details can change, so check the official page.
Key takeaways
- Tell WRA early if you cannot pay or expect trouble paying.
- WRA will ask about your situation and explore options.
- Do not assume contact alone changes when LTT must be paid.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- LTTA 2017 section 57 — when Land Transaction Tax must be paid
Official guidance
The pages below are the Welsh Revenue Authority’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how the Welsh Revenue Authority reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. the Welsh Revenue Authority can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- The supplied source does not say which payment options WRA may offer or the conditions for any option.
- The supplied source does not say whether contacting WRA changes a payment deadline, interest, or penalties.
- The skill’s currency-notice.md file was not available, so the current status of the statutory material could not be checked against its recorded currency date.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- details of the tax bill and amount due
- a clear explanation of the current or expected payment difficulty
- information about when the difficulty is likely to affect payment
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching Land Transaction Tax (LTT), the tax on property in Wales. It replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales on 1 April 2018, and SDLT does not apply in Wales. MY QUESTION Trouble paying Land Transaction Tax? Contact WRA early [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - LTTA 2017 section 57 - when Land Transaction Tax must be paid https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/57 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/difficulties-paying-tax#96211 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from the Welsh Revenue Authority is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - The supplied source does not say which payment options WRA may offer or the conditions for any option. - The supplied source does not say whether contacting WRA changes a payment deadline, interest, or penalties. - The skill’s currency-notice.md file was not available, so the current status of the statutory material could not be checked against its recorded currency date. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 3 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Trouble paying Land Transaction Tax? Contact WRA early
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