Financial sense

I’m struggling to understand Elspeth Orcharton’s comments that Registers of Scotland don’t have a “focused compliance and enforcement regime” (your report, 13 June).

Stamp Duty land tax is the easiest tax to collect as the responsibility for its payment to HMRC falls on purchasers’ solicitors, and the land register will not register a title without a Stamp-Duty certificate and upfront payment of land registration dues.

The compliance regime is inbuilt. John Swinney’s understanding that, by empowering Registers of Scotland to collect Stamp Duty tax or its successor as well as land registration dues simultaneously, neatly proves his assertion that Scotland will be much more efficient in tax collection than the UK since, with this one act, he will have removed the current duplication of submitting separate cumbersome returns to both HMRC and Registers of Scotland with each property purchase.

This proposal will not only reduce public-sector costs but should also lead to the reduction in legal costs for purchasers.

Mr Swinney’s announcements are very encouraging for the future financial arrangements in an independent Scotland.

Graeme McCormick

Conveyancing Direct

Morrison Street

Glasgow