Since the portal opened up in February 2015 for sign-up and registration for the Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) and the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), more than 1,000 users from around 350 firms have signed up to use the online tax return system.

Revenue Scotland says it is working with Registers of Scotland and professional bodies to ensure that firms intending to submit online LBTT returns from 1 April are aware of the need to sign up for the online portal as soon as possible.

To sign up to the LBTT part of the portal, firms currently registered as an e-Services user with Registers of Scotland with Local Registration Authority (LRA) permissions on automated registration of title to land (ARTL) can use these details to sign up, and the user will be instantly assigned administrator rights and able to set up other users.

Firms and individuals with no ARTL permissions, but who are registered with Companies House, will be verified by Revenue Scotland using their registration details with Companies House and issued an activation code in the post within five working days. The process for unincorporated bodies is similar, but the activation code will be issued within ten (instead of five) working days as the verification will be done manually.

Revenue Scotland says it has also contacted landfill operators to ensure they are aware of the need to register for SLfT before 1 April.

Eleanor Emberson, chief executive of Revenue Scotland, said: ‘With less than a month until Revenue Scotland goes live and begins to administer Scotland’s devolved taxes, sign-up and registration for our online services is working well.

‘Solicitors who have helped test the system have reported that it is “intuitive and user-friendly”.

‘With all the key components of our IT system now delivered, we’re on track and ready to launch on 1 April.

'Up until then, we will continue to work with solicitors, landfill operators and other stakeholders to increase the numbers of sign-ups and registrations and ensure that our service is as responsive, easy to use and as efficient as possible.’

The Revenue Scotland website is available here https://www.revenue.scot/