Private landlords advice

HM Revenue Customs (HMRC) has created the HMRC online training facility to help build landlords knowledge of such matters as:

• income tax
• business records
• expenses

The service is free to use. It will help landlords get their tax right from the start of the letting process and can be used to keep tax matters on track for the future. The product is updated and maintained by HMRC and anyone viewing the site in, say, a year’s time will get all the latest information. The training is split into bite-size modules covering:

• when and how property letting starts and what to do
• the various types of property income -furnished, unfurnished, holiday lets, Rent a Room, the Non Resident Landlord Scheme - and how they are taxed
• the correct treatment of income and expenditure (both revenue and capital)
• tips on record keeping
• property disposal, Capital Gains tax, and inheritance tax
• tax return filing and paying dates and when and how
• PAYE and VAT obligations

Landlords who have failed to register with HMRC or who have under-declared or under paid tax, risk being checked by HMRC. If you wait for this to happen, you wont be able to sort out your tax affairs on the best terms. There is help available for people who have underpaid their tax.

HMRC also provide pre-recorded and live webinars on property income covering the basics of income from property including registration, record keeping etc. The webinars cover schemes such as Rent a Room and furnished holiday lettings. The webinars can be viewed from your computer/laptop/smartphone as long as internet access is available. The pre-recorded webinars last around 30 minutes. The webinar entitled Your Property Income and HMRC; may be of particular interest.

The HMRC Property Rental Toolkit provides guidance on to how to avoid the most commonly made errors that they see in property rental returns. It is mainly designed to meet the needs of agents but may also be of interest to landlords.