Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 section 11

Cases involving alternative finance arrangements

Section 11 explains how Green Freeports relief interacts with alternative finance arrangements (such as Sharia-compliant financing), where Schedule 7 of the LBTT Act applies to the transaction.

• Where a land transaction is structured through alternative finance arrangements (e.g. involving a financial institution as an intermediary), this paragraph governs how Green Freeports relief applies to the "first transaction" in that arrangement.
• For the purposes of deciding whether Green Freeports relief is available, and whether any relief previously given should be withdrawn, the person who actually entered into the finance arrangements (not the financial institution) is treated as if they were the buyer.
• Similarly, where the relief withdrawal rules refer to land held as trading stock for resale without development, this is assessed by looking at whether the relevant person (not the financial institution) holds the land in that way.
• The first transaction in an alternative finance arrangement can only qualify for Green Freeports relief through the application of this paragraph — it cannot qualify independently outside these rules.