Landlords – year end planning tips

A few housekeeping tips for readers with buy to let or holiday let properties to think about and action – if applicable – before the end of the current financial year, 5 April 2021.

Buy-to-let

• Have you experienced a drop in rental income since April 2020? If yes, make sure you let us have estimates of your buy-to-let income and expenses to say 31 December 2020 (covering the nine months from 1 April 2020) and we will see if an election to reduce tax payments on account is possible.
• If you are contemplating repairs to your property(ies) consider the timing of expenditure. Incurring costs before or after 5 April 2021 will affect your tax payments.
• If you have improved your rental property during 2020-21, please keep details as we will need those if and when you come to sell the property.
• In 2023, you may need to computerise your record keeping meeting HMRC’s Making Tax Digital regulations. There are a number of cloud based software packages you could use. 

Holiday Let Properties

• To retain the tax advantages you enjoy – holiday let property businesses are treated as trades – you must meet certain occupancy rules. As it is likely occupancy has dropped during 2020-21 due to lock-down periods, a review is critical.

We can help. Please call if you need more information on any of the above matters.