At its meeting on 19 August 2020, the Committee considered The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Tax Rates and Tax Bands) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) (Coronavirus) Order 2020 (SSI 2020/215). The Official Report from that meeting is on the website.

The order was laid on 15 July 2020 and is subject to the provisional affirmative procedure. Section 41(3)b of the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014 states that such an order—

ceases to have effect at the expiry of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which it was made unless, before the expiry of that period, the order has been approved by resolution of the Parliament.

This Order amends the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Tax Rates and Tax Bands) (Scotland) Order 2015 on a limited time basis to increase the nil rate band for residential Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 9 July 2020 in response to the UK Government economic update.

The Policy Note states that the Policy Objective of the Order is to provide for the increase to the nil rate band for residential LBTT up to and including 31 March 2021. The nil rate band for these transactions is amended so that it applies where the relevant consideration is not more than £250,000 instead of £145.000.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission published estimates of the cost of this policy on 15 July 2020.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the Order on 11 August 2020 and determined that it did not need to draw the attention of the Parliament to the instrument.

At the meeting, after a debate, Ben Macpherson, Minister for Public Finance and Migration moved motion S5M-22290—

That the Finance and Constitution Committee recommends that the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Tax Rates and Tax Bands) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) (Coronavirus) Order 2020 (SSI 2020/215) be approved.