Why did the SNP Scottish Government introduce Land and Building Transaction Tax?

The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) – which replaced UK Stamp Duty Land Tax from April 2015 – was the first tax to be introduced by the Scottish Parliament in 300 years and has changed the way people pay tax on property purchases.

The old stamp duty was outdated – causing unfair tax hikes at set property prices. For the first two years of LBTT, almost 93 per cent of those who bought a house for £40,000 or more paid either less tax compared with under United Kingdom SDLT or no tax whatsoever.