The self-assessment deadline is looming. Self-assessment tax returns for the year to 5 April 2019 must be filed online by 31 January 2020 if a late filing penalty is to be avoided.Landlords will need to complete the property income pages. Particular care should be taken where the landlord has a loan or a mortgage as…
Using your car in your property rental business
Landlords will often use their car for the purposes of their property rental business. Where they do so, they are able to claim a deduction for the costs that they incur. Using mileage rates Where a landlord uses their car for business purposes, the easiest way to work out the amount that can be deducted…
Buying a property to let – the importance of keeping records from day one
For tax purposes, good record keeping is essential. Without complete and accurate records, it will not be possible to provide correct details of taxable income or to benefit from allowable deductions. Aside from the risk of paying more tax than is necessary, landlords who fail to take their record keeping obligations seriously may also find…
Curtailment of letting relief
Landlords have been hit with a number of tax hikes in recent years, and this trend shows no signs of abating. From 6 April 2020, lettings relief – a valuable capital gains tax relief which is available where a property which has at some point been the owner’s only or main residence is let out…
Non-residents landlord scheme
A non-resident landlord is a landlord who lets out property in the UK but spends more than six months in the tax year outside the UK. A special tax scheme – the non-residents landlord scheme – applies to these landlords. Under the scheme, tax must be deducted by a letting agent or tenant from the…
Property income receipts – what should be included?
When calculating the profit or loss for a property rental business, it is important that nothing is overlooked. The receipts which need to be taken into account may include more than simply the rent received from letting out the property. Rent and other receipts Income from a property rental business includes all gross rents received…
Using the property rental toolkit to avoid common errors in returns
HMRC’s property rental toolkit highlights errors commonly found in tax returns in relation to property income. The toolkit can be used to help avoid those errors, some of which are discussed briefly below. Computation For unincorporated property businesses, the default basis is the cash basis where the qualifying conditions are met and the landlord does…
Property partnerships
A person may own a property jointly that is let out as part of a partnership business. This may arise if the person is a partner of a trading or professional partnership which also lets out some of its land and buildings. A less common situation is where the person is in a partnership that…
Rental deposits
A landlord will usually take a deposit from a tenant when letting a property to cover the cost of any damage caused to the property by the tenant. Where a property is let on an assured shorthold tenancy, the tenants’ deposit must be placed in an official tenancy deposit scheme. The purpose of the deposit…
Here are the conditions you need to meet to get tax relief on expenses before letting out a property
Claiming a deduction for pre-letting expenses For tax purposes, a property rental business begins when the first property is let. However, it is likely that the landlord will have incurred some expenses prior to that date in getting the property ready to let and in finding a tenant and agreeing the let. Once the letting…