SLfT Legislation Guidance

This Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) guidance is intended to supplement and clarify the detail contained in the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014 and supporting subordinate legislation, which are listed separately on our website.

The guidance is primarily for landfill site operators and their agents but will also be of interest to waste producers, others involved in the waste management industry and environmental bodies involved with the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund.

Nothing in this guidance changes any obligations a person may have under environmental or other legislative requirements.

For practical guidance on how to register, submit a tax return, pay or other SLfT applications see our Guidance and Services section. 

Also available separately is guidance on The Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014. That guidance, amongst other things, provides important information on our investigatory powers, penalties, interest, debt enforcement and dispute resolution arrangements (review, mediation and appeal). References to that guidance throughout the SLfT guidance take the form ‘RSTPXYYY’ where X is the chapter reference and YYY is the unique guidance reference within that chapter.

All references in this guidance to:

• ‘LT(S)A 2014’ mean the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014;
• ‘RSTPA 2014’ mean The Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014;
• ‘SEPA’ mean the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• a ‘site operator’ mean the authorisation holder (the SEPA permit / licence holder) of the landfill site as described in section 12(2) of LT(S)A 2014;
• ‘SLCF’ mean the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund;
• ‘SLfT’ mean Scottish Landfill Tax;
• 'we', ‘us’ or 'our' mean Revenue Scotland. ‘We’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ also means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency where SEPA is carrying out a function delegated to it by us under section 4 of the RSTPA 2014; and
• unless indicated to the contrary, 'you' or 'your' means the person liable to pay SLfT (the taxpayer, which will in most cases be the landfill site operator).

Note: All links to the www.legislation.gov.uk website are provided for ease of reference but you should be aware that the content displayed may not always reflect the most up-to-date legislation and we therefore take no responsibility for your reliance on it.

The guidance is structured as follows: