HMRC launched the ‘Let Property Campaign‘ on the 10th December 2013.
If you’re a landlord who has undisclosed income you must tell HMRC about any unpaid tax now. You will then have 3 months to calculate and pay what you owe.
The Let Property Campaign is an opportunity open to all residential property landlords with undisclosed taxes. This includes:
- those that have multiple properties
- landlords with single rentals
- specialist landlords with student or workforce rentals
- holiday lettings
- anyone renting out a room in their main home for more than £4,250 per year, or £2,125 if the property was let jointly, but has not told HMRC about this income
- those who live abroad or intend to live abroad for more than 6 months and rent out a property in the UK as you may still be liable to UK taxes
Â
According to the Telegraph….
Fewer than 500,000 taxpayers are registered with HMRC as owning properties other than their home. And yet other sources put the number of Britain’s growing army of landlords at between 1.2million and 1.4million.
Why the discrepancy? No one can say for sure, but the taxman has his answer: not enough people are declaring – and paying tax on – their property incomes and gains.
HMRC will identify those who they believe should have made a disclosure by:
- comparing the information already in their possession with customers’ UK tax histories
- continuing to use their powers to obtain further detailed information about payments made to and from landlords
Where additional taxes are due HMRC will usually charge higher penalties than those available under the Let Property Campaign. The penalties could be up to 100% of the unpaid liabilities, or up to 200% for offshore related income.
If you owe tax, you must tell HMRC of your intention to make a disclosure. You need to do this as soon as you become aware that you owe tax on your letting income.
At this stage, you only need to tell HMRC that you will be making a disclosure.
You do not need to provide any details of the undisclosed income or the tax you believe you owe.
It sounds like HMRC could be in for bumper Christmas if landlords take advantage of this opportunity to pay up!
steve@bicknells.net
