Scotland has not charged stamp duty since 2015. A purchase of land or a building north of the border is charged to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which Revenue Scotland administers under its own thresholds. Every calculator sold as a Scottish stamp duty calculator is really an LBTT calculator, and the reason the answer differs from an English one is not rounding: the bands are genuinely different.
How much is stamp duty in Scotland: the residential bands Revenue Scotland publishes
For transactions with an effective date from 1 April 2021 the residential nil rate band runs up to £145,000. From £145,001 to £250,000 the rate is 2%, from £250,001 to £325,000 it is 5%, from £325,001 to £750,000 it is 10%, and above £750,000 it is 12%. Each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its band, so you calculate the amount due within each band and add them together.
The Additional Dwelling Supplement is the part that moves the number
Buying a property that leaves you owning more than one dwelling adds the Additional Dwelling Supplement on top of the main bands. Revenue Scotland puts it at 8% of the purchase price for transactions on or after 5 December 2024, up from 6% before that date. It does not apply where the consideration is under £40,000. On a second home this supplement is routinely larger than the whole of the main LBTT charge, which is why a calculator that ignores it is not close.
First-time buyer relief, and what it is actually worth
Revenue Scotland operates a relief for first-time buyers that raises the residential nil rate band from £145,000 to £175,000. Because it works by moving the threshold rather than by exempting the purchase, the relief is capped by the size of the band it adds: for effective dates after 1 April 2021 it reduces the tax by up to £600. It is worth claiming and it is not the difference between affording a house and not.
Commercial and mixed property in Scotland
Non-residential and mixed LBTT runs on its own table. Revenue Scotland charges nothing up to £150,000, then 1% on the portion from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000. A business buying premises in Scotland is in this table rather than the residential one, and mixed use, such as a flat above a shop, usually brings the whole transaction into it.
Questions people ask about stamp duty calculator Scotland
Is there stamp duty in Scotland at all?
Not since April 2015. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax instead, administered by Revenue Scotland with its own bands, its own reliefs and its own return. People still search for stamp duty because that is the name the market kept, but the tax you file and pay is LBTT.
Why does a Scottish stamp duty calculator give a different answer from an English one?
Because the thresholds are different. The LBTT nil rate band runs to £145,000 while SDLT residential starts at £125,000, and the middle bands diverge from there. On the same price the two taxes can differ by thousands, in either direction depending where in the bands the price sits.
Does the Additional Dwelling Supplement apply to a company?
Revenue Scotland's rules look at what you own after the purchase rather than at whether you are a person or a company, and a company buying residential property is generally within the supplement. The published exclusions are narrow, so the safe assumption on a second dwelling is that it applies until an adviser has read your facts.
Who works out the figure on a real purchase?
The solicitor or conveyancer acting on the transaction files the LBTT return and calculates the tax on the actual consideration. This page sets out the published bands so you can follow the arithmetic, and passes an enquiry to a firm if you want somebody to do it on your facts.