The Scottish government has introduced a bill to replace the UK’s stamp duty land tax in Scotland.

The bill will enable Holyrood to set and collect a proportion of its own revenue, in what Finance Secretary John Swinney has described as an "historic first".

The Land and Building Transactions Tax (Scotland) Bill enables the Scottish government to collect and manage taxes on the purchase or leasing of land and buildings.

It will come into effect on April 2015.

Ministers are proposing a "progressive tax structure" for the new tax so that the amount of tax paid is closely related to the value of the property.

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Mr Swinney said: "The changes we are proposing would give us the opportunity to better support first time buyers trying to get onto the housing ladder or families buying bigger homes that better suit their needs.

"Rather than the current distortive 'slab' approach which sees people pay too much tax and distorts the market, we will ensure that taxpayers pay an amount more proportionate to the value of their property."

He added: "Taxation should be proportionate, taxpayers should have certainty about what they should pay, it should be convenient and it should be efficient.

"However the transfer of tax powers in this one area only adds to the case for the responsibility for all taxation in Scotland to rest with the Scottish Parliament.

"The changes we are making show that where we have the powers we are able to design a system better suited to Scotland’s interests."

Plans to establish Revenue Scotland have also been announced by the Scottish government.

This new body is intended to work with Registers of Scotland to ensure the collection and administration of the tax at a lower cost than that proposed by HMRC.

(IT)