No discretion to consider fairness of the law

The taxpayer owned a home in Edinburgh but decided to downsize. In March 2020 she bought a smaller property while still owning the first one. She submitted a land and buildings transaction tax return which correctly reflected the additional dwellings supplement.

However due to the onset of Covid-19 the taxpayer was unable to occupy the second property. In 2021 she sold both properties and bought a third one. She claimed a repayment of the additional dwelling supplement on the ground it was never her intention to own more than one property.

Revenue Scotland refused the claim. The taxpayer appealed.

The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland noted that Revenue Scotland called this a ‘very unfortunate case’ but that it had to apply the law as enacted and had no discretion. The problem in this appeal was that although Covid-19 was responsible for the delay in selling the first and...