How important is it to declare profit on rental property?

Question

I have a retal propert nowy nearly 8 months, income is alot greater than mortage, Should I declare it to inland rev, also is there anything I can write off against my profit? What would be the consequences if I did not declare, Advise Please

"David B"
i don't know the facts on this, But if you have not yet recovered the cost of the house how can you be said to be in profit.
Exactly!!!!

Answer 1

Yes you must declare as you can be fined if they find out and also charged twice the tax due. If you are using an agent he may have to declare the income on your behalf.

You can offset all reasonable expenses for letting (i.e. advertising) rent collection, repairs (but not improvements which you can offset against capital gains tax when you sell), & mortgage interest. If the property is furnished you can also write off the cost of the furniture over a period.

You should probably employ an accountant to do your tax return as they are complex and you want tyo be sure you claim everything you can.

Answer 2

I think you already know the answer to your first question about whether you should declare the income. Of course, you have a legal responsibility to notify HMRC of all new sources of untaxed income.

In fact the first thing you should do is to check if you first rented it out before 6th April this year. If so, you need to delare this straight away. (It should have been done by 5th October but providing the figures are all submitted and any tax due paid by the end of January you will be OK).

But to come back to the question of disclosure. I guess what you really want to know is whether you are likely to be foundout if you do not declare it? I would say this is highly likely. It is much harder to hide rental income than that from other sources. This is because sales of property are now all recorded at the Land Registry and HMRC check details of all property sales. You may not be found out until the property is sold but if you think about it, they can easily trace who was living in the property (from the electoral roll) and if that person does not seem connected to you it is a near certainty you were charging rent.

For claiming expenses I'm sureHMRC have issued a booklet about this but I can't seem to find it at the moment. The link below takes you to their own internal manuals which has sections on what can be claimed so may be of some use.

Answer 3

Well it can be serious. Profit from a rental property is income so must be declared. The easiet way is to contact your tax office and ask to be set up in Self Assessment for a tax return to be issued for 2007-2008 (issued in April 2008). Don't forget to ask for the Land & Property pages and employment or self employment pages depending on your work situation.

For a full list of what expenses can be claimed against the rental income, there is a property income manual on the HMRC website.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/pimmanual/index.htm

Answer 4

The actual cost of the house is not tax deductible. If you have a mortgage, you can claim against the interest only.
If you don't declare the income, HMRC have ways of finding you out! Failure to disclose results in nasty things like monetary penalties for non-disclosure and interest for late payment. It is not cheap! The cost would be determined by the Inspector of Taxes doing the investigation, and would be based on the amount of tax underpaid.

Answer 5

Yes you should declair this as it is a form of income and so it is therefore taxable. Make sure you tell them don't wait until they find out on their own or you could end up with a fine or prosecution, if you tell them it shows you are being honest

Answer 6

DON'T MESS WITH THE TAXMAN!!!!

Seriously, they are the wordst people to get on the wrong side of, the mortgage is offset against the profits as are any repairs you may have paid for, surveys, gas/electrical checks (now compulsory), that sort of thig.

Answer 7

Yes you have to declare it .as it is deemed an income so it will be taxed,be careful as you will now have back tax on the past 8 months.Tax evasion is serious .

Answer 8

i don't know the facts on this, But if you have not yet recovered the cost of the house how can you be said to be in profit.