We now have the first two Scottish tribunal decisions. These were appeals against land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT) penalty notices for late filing. The taxpayers’ claims on the grounds of reasonable excuse were treated strictly as in comparable UK tribunal decisions. But in the Classic Land case a procedural error by Revenue Scotland was taken to vitiate the penalty notice – even though the taxpayer had failed to meet statutory filing obligations. UK tribunals have seemed more tolerant of HMRC errors and a recent ATED case illustrates this. The indication is that taxpayers may have more success at the tribunal when Revenue Scotland makes mistakes.
