Matheson LLP (Matheson LLP)

Lobbying Organisation Matheson LLP

Date published 19 Jan, 2018

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Justice and Equality

Period 1 Sep, 2017 to 31 Dec, 2017

Specific Details Deeds for transfers of property are registered if accompanied by stamp duty certificate. Stamp duty rates increased in Budget 2018 for certain transfers of non-residential property. The Finance Bill 2017 implementing the change included transitional provisions for transfers agreed before 11/10/2017. Revenue permitted documents covered by transitional arrangements to be stamped at the lower rate, but stamp duty certificates could not be issued for those transfers until Finance Bill enacted

Intended results A temporary change in the Property Registration Authority (PRA) procedures on accepting Deeds with no stamp certificate to facilitate the transitional stamp duty measures for commercial property to ensure that such deeds would not be rejected. The PRA adopted our proposal and issued Legal Office No. 2, temporarily altering their procedures so that the application for registration of such deeds would not be automatically rejected.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Peter McKeever

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (1)

Peter McKeever emailed Liz Pope (CEO PRA) and John Murphy (Deputy Registrar, PRA) on 27 October 2017 outlining the issue and our proposal. PRA reverted by email the following week and there were some further emails exchanged where we clarified some issues before the PRA published Legal Office Notice No. 2 of 2017 on 3 November 2017.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Liz Pope Chief Executive Officer (The Property Registration Authority)