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Welsh Government
Data Provider: Welsh Revenue Authority Land Transaction Tax statistics on higher rate refunds by original transaction date and refund approved date
None
MeasureThe two measures shown are a count of transactions subject to higher rate refunds, and the total value of those refunds.[Filtered]
Measure2
[Collapse]Refund approved periodData are shown by the financial quarter (quarter 1 is April to June) and financial year (April to March) in which the higher rate refund was approved by the Welsh Revenue Authority. Where part years are shown, these are marked with the suffix \'to date.\'[Filter]
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Refund approved period 1
[Collapse]Effective periodData are shown against the financial year (April to March) in which the transaction subject to the higher rate refund was originally effective, regardless of when the refund that applied to that transaction was actually approved, which may be as much as three years later.[Filter]
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Effective period 1
[Expand]Click here to sort2018-19[Expand]Click here to sort2019-20[Expand]Click here to sort2020-21[Expand]Click here to sort2021-22[Expand]Click here to sort2022-23[Expand]Click here to sort2023-24[Expand]Click here to sort2024-25[Collapse]2025-26 (to date)This only represents the year to date.
Click here to sortApril to June 2025-26 (to date)This only represents the quarter to date.
[Expand]2018-1965082032018010.The data item is not applicable*Represents a value that has been suppressed as it is not sufficiently large to present, or the tax due for a small number of transactions contributes to the majority of the cell value (dominance).The data item is not applicable
[Expand]2019-20.The data item is not applicable63074046016010.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable
[Expand]2020-21.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable55088024011010*Represents a value that has been suppressed as it is not sufficiently large to present, or the tax due for a small number of transactions contributes to the majority of the cell value (dominance)
[Expand]2021-22.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable72066024013010
[Expand]2022-23.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable54059026030
[Expand]2023-24.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable460650100
[Expand]2024-25.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable530200
[Collapse]2025-26 (to date)This only represents the year to date.April to June 2025-26.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable10

Metadata

General description

From 1 April 2018, LTT replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on residential and non-residential property and land interests purchased in Wales. The tax rates and tax bands for LTT vary depending on the type of transaction.

Taxpayers must notify the WRA of all land transactions with a value above £40,000. There are also circumstances where certain lease transactions are not notifiable if they are less than 7 years in duration. When filing an LTT return, the organisation paying the return has 30 days after the effective date to submit and pay the return.

This dataset includes estimates of LTT notifiable transactions received by the WRA by the close of 16 June 2025.

Care should be taken with any comparisons over time which involve data from spring 2020 to summer 2021. This is due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and changes to LTT rates. A national lockdown on 23 March 2020 resulted in the housing market being mainly closed from this date until 22 June 2020 when it partially re-opened. The market was re-opened more fully on 27 July, to coincide with a change in LTT rates effective until 30 June 2021. There is evidence some purchasers may have brought their transactions forward to June 2021 to benefit from the temporary tax reduction.

There were some changes to LTT rates effective from 22 December 2020. Non-residential transactions and higher rates residential transactions were affected.

The main residential rates and bands for Land Transaction changed for transactions effective after 10 October 2022.

The dataset focuses on residential transactions subject to a higher rate refund and includes the number of transactions subject to a refund, and the aggregate value of those refunds, broken down by:
- effective quarter and year of the original transaction
- the quarter and year in which the refund was approved, which may be as much as three years after the original transaction

When a refund for higher rates residential transaction is claimed, the original transaction is amended to a main rate residential transaction. With up to three years for taxpayers to sell their previous main residence and claim a refund, the data for any given quarter (relating to the effective date of the original transaction) may be broken down into any refund approved quarter in the subsequent three years, including the most recent quarter (which may not be complete by the date above). For this reason, the refund approved date presented here includes that most recent quarter, and the note against that quarter explains how much of it is covered in the data.

Note the number and value of refunds presented for later effective dates is lower than that for earlier periods. This is because compared with earlier periods, insufficient time has passed since the transaction was effective for many of the relevant taxpayers to sell their previous main residence and claim their refund.

Data collection and calculation

See weblinks

Frequency of publication

Monthly

Data reference periods

Data are shown by the financial quarter (quarter 1 is April to June) and financial year (April to March) in which the original transaction was effective. Where part years are shown, these are marked with the suffix "to date."

The refund may be approved at an time up to three years after the transaction was effective. As such the analysis by refund approval date includes all quarters up to the date set out in the general description. As this date is often within a quarter, the latest refund approval quarter is a part quarter.

Users, uses and context

These statistics have been established to meet the immediate user requirement for data on the implementation of LTT, following the establishment of the WRA. Our key users are colleagues from the Welsh Treasury within the Welsh Government, the Office of Budget Responsibility, and other tax authorities in the UK.

Rounding applied

Values in this dataset are rounded to the nearest 10 for the transactions for which a refund applies, and the nearest £0.1 million for the aggregate value of the refunds.

Revisions information

Land Transaction Tax statistics are regularly revised and the values for the latest period are provisional. When filing a LTT return, the organisation paying the return has 30 days after the ‘effective date’ to submit and pay the return. The effective date is when the tax becomes liable to be paid, usually when a transaction is completed on a property. Additional LTT transactions relating to the most recent month are therefore likely to be filed during the following month. See weblinks for analysis of these revisions.

Values for earlier periods are subject to revisions for several years. Transactions can be amended for a variety of reasons and the statistics are revised each month to reflect amendments to transactions. In particular, this will be due to higher rate refunds. When a refund for higher rates residential LTT is claimed, the original transaction is amended to a main rate residential LTT transaction. The taxpayer has up to three years to sell their previous main residence and claim a refund.

Title

Land Transaction Tax statistics for higher rate refunds, by effective year and quarter and year and quarter of refund approval

Last update

20 June 2025 20 June 2025

Next update

7 August 2025

Publishing organisation

Welsh Revenue Authority

Source 1

Land Transaction Tax returns, Welsh Revenue Authority

Contact email

data@wra.gov.wales

Designation

None

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Wales

Geographical coverage

Wales

Languages covered

English and Welsh

Data licensing

You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

Keywords

Land Transaction Tax; LTT; Tax

Statistical quality

See weblinks