Tag: FHL

How can Husband and Wife split Furnished Holiday Let Income?

Normally the rules is that income is split 50/50 but there are some special rules for FHLs

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/property-income-manual/pim1030

Jointly owned property: husband & wife or civil partners

Husbands and wives or civil partners living together should generally be treated as entitled in equal shares to income from jointly held property.

See:
ICTA88/S282A for years up to 2006-07, and
ITA07/S836 for 2007-08 onwards.

However, this rule will not apply in any of the following instances:
# the income is earned income (or, like furnished holiday lettings, treated as earned income); ICTA88/S282A (4)(a), ITA07/S836 Exception D,
# there is actually a partnership; ICTA88/S282A (4)(b), ITA07/S836 Exception C. In this case the income is divided according to the terms of the partnership agreement,
# both husband and wife, or both civil partners, have signed a declaration under ICTA88/S282B or ITA07/S837 stating their beneficial interests in both the property and the income arising from it. However, a declaration is only valid if their interests in the income and in the property itself correspond.

Further guidance can be found at TSEM9800 onwards. Any problems about joint ownership which cannot be dealt with by reference to the TSEM guidance should be submitted to HMRC Trusts Bootle.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/trusts-settlements-and-estates-manual/tsem9820

Property held jointly by married couples or civil partners: The 50/50 rule: Income from furnished holiday lettings

The 50/50 rule does not apply to income arising from a UK property business which consists of, or so far as it includes, the commercial letting of furnished holiday accommodation.

# If a spouse or civil partner carries on the activity alone: that spouse or civil partner is taxable on the income.
# If a spouse or civil partner carries on the activity with others: the income is split for tax purposes in the way the parties have agreed to split the profits amongst themselves.

 

steve@bicknells.net

What happens if you lose FHL Status?

To qualify as a FHL (Furnished Holiday Let) your property must be:

– in the UK or in the European Economic Area (EEA) – the EEA includes Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

– furnished – there must be sufficient furniture provided for normal occupation and your visitors must be entitled to use the furniture

The property must be commercially let (you must intend to make a profit). If you let the property out of season to cover costs but didn’t make a profit, the letting will still be treated as commercial.

Accommodation can only qualify as a FHL if it passes all 3 occupancy conditions.

The pattern of occupation condition
If the total of all lettings that exceed 31 continuous days is more than 155 days during the year, this condition isn’t met so your property won’t be a FHL for that year.

The availability condition
Your property must be available for letting as furnished holiday accommodation letting for at least 210 days in the year.

The letting condition
You must let the property commercially as furnished holiday accommodation to the public for at least 105 days in the year.

What if you fail these tests?

  1. You will be restricted on how you can use losses arising in the business
  2. CGT and IHT business property reliefs will be lost
  3. HMRC are more likely to challenge expenses such as motor, travel, and subsistence

Loss of FHL – Capital Allowances

Capital Allowances can not be claimed on plant, machinery, fixtures, integral features, instead you will only be able to claim replacement cost

Period of grace election
You may genuinely intend to meet the letting condition, but were unable to. If this happens, you may be able to make a period of grace election that allows the property to qualify as a FHL as long as the pattern of occupation and availability conditions were met.

To make an election, you must be able to show that you had a genuine intention to let the property in the year. For example, where you’ve marketed a property to the same or a greater level than in successful years, or where the lettings are cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, including extreme adverse weather.

You can make an election where the property met the letting condition in the year before the first year you wish to make a period of grace election (either on its own or because of an averaging election). If your property again doesn’t meet the letting condition in the following year, you can make a second period of grace election (as long as you made an election in the previous year).

If your property doesn’t reach the threshold by the fourth year, after 2 consecutive period of grace elections, it will no longer qualify as a furnished holiday letting.

steve@bicknells.net

The tax advantages of Furnished Holiday Lets

Traditional Old English Cottage with Thatched Roof

There are special tax rules for rental income from properties that qualify as Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHLs).

If you let properties that qualify as FHLs:

  • you can claim Capital Gains Tax reliefs for traders (Business Asset Rollover Relief, Entrepreneurs’ Relief, relief for gifts of business assets and relief for loans to traders)
  • you are entitled to plant and machinery capital allowances for items such as furniture, equipment and fixtures
  • the profits count as earnings for pension purposes

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/furnished-holiday-lettings-hs253-self-assessment-helpsheet/cvgg

In addition:

  • The Interest Rate Relief Restrictions don’t apply – these rules only affect Buy to Let Investors

The letting condition

You must let the property commercially as furnished holiday accommodation to the public for at least 105 days in the year (70 days for the tax year 2011 to 2012 and earlier).

The availability condition

Your property must be available for letting as furnished holiday accommodation letting for at least 210 days in the year (140 days for the tax year 2011 to 2012 and earlier).

But the extra stamp duty will apply

Furnished holiday lets

The government proposes that properties bought as furnished holiday lets should be treated in the same way as all other residential properties – if the property is purchased as an additional property the higher rates will apply.

A Company could help you save tax

The current rate of Corporation Tax is 19%.

Not only that, its the same rate no matter how many companies you have, previously when there were multiple Corporation Rate if you had associated companies the small companies rate was reduce in a marginal rate calculation.

Stamp Duty (SDLT) on selling Shares is 0.5%.

Example – So £1,995 × 0.5% = £9.97. This is rounded up to the nearest £5, which means you pay £10 Stamp Duty.

https://stevejbicknell.com/budget-2016/budget-3/

HMRC have a calculator, here is link

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tools/sdlt/land-and-property.htm

One of the big benefits of Shares is that its easy to split ownership.

Potentially Exempt Transfers (PET’s) allow you to give away shares provided you survive more that 7 years after the transfer, shares make PETs easy and simple.

When you give away shares it will potentially trigger a capital gain but you will be able to use your personal capital gains allowance of £12,300 to offset this gain.

steve@bicknells.net