Scots To Replace Stamp Duty With Progressive Tax

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The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Bill is designed to address inequalities created by the "slab" structure of stamp duty thresholds.
 A difference in property selling price of just £1 can lead to thousands of pounds in additional tax for the buyer.
The legislation will introduce "a proportional progressive structure" including a nil rate and at least two other bands, under which only the proportion of the price above the threshold is liable for the higher rate of tax.
The Scottish Parliament is being asked to back the general principles of the Bill in a vote.
It has already been backed by Holyrood's Finance Committee, which welcomed measures to clamp down on tax avoidance on transactions involving land and buildings in Scotland. It also called for clarity on the roles and responsibilities of two organisations involved in the tax: Revenue Scotland and Registers of Scotland.
Revenue Scotland will be set up to ensure the "efficient" and "effective" care and management of the devolved taxes, including the replacement for stamp duty, while Registers of Scotland will collect land and buildings transaction tax.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Today we take a further step toward the setting and collecting of taxes in Scotland and doing so better and at less cost than the UK Government.
"Having the power to abolish stamp duty and replace it with a fairer and more progressive form of taxation has been widely welcomed and shows the importance of the Scottish Parliament having responsibility for all tax revenues in Scotland.
  In taking the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Bill through Parliament we are setting out an innovative approach to taxation that is much better aligned with Scots law and practices.
 The changes we are proposing could see many people at the lower end of the housing market taken out of tax altogether, and gives us the opportunity to support first-time buyers to get on to the housing ladder and families seeking to buy bigger homes that better suit their needs.
 Rather than there being a rigid stepped approach to Stamp Duty Land Tax payments as there is now, more people would pay an amount more proportionate to the value of their property."