Let Property Campaign-Part 2

The Let Property Campaign provides a simple approach for landlords who owe tax on residential property they rent out in the UK or overseas to keep up to speed with their tax issues and take advantage of the best possible conditions.

If you're a landlord with undeclared income, you must report any unpaid tax to HMRC right away. After then, you'll have 90 days to straighten things out and pay what you owe.

The Let Property Campaign aims to give UK residential landlords the best possible terms for paying any unpaid taxes to HMRC.

 HMRC created the campaign in order to punish residential landlords who fail to report their income. If the income has not been reported to HMRC, its let property campaign may be able to help you meet your filing obligations quickly and on more favourable terms than would otherwise be available.

The Let Property Campaign provides the finest possible terms to help you organise your tax issues. You can take advantage of these by notifying HMRC of your intend to participate and cooperating with them in making a complete disclosure and payment.

If you're an individual landlord renting out residential property, you can use the Let Property Campaign to report previously unreported taxes on rental revenue to HMRC.

This includes you if you’re:

·       renting out a single property

·       renting out multiple properties

·       a specialist landlord, eg student or workforce rentals

·       renting out a room in your main home for more than the Rent a Room Scheme threshold

·       living abroad and renting out a property in the UK

·       living in the UK and renting a property abroad

·       renting out a holiday home even if you use it yourself (gov.uk).

 If you're a corporation or a trust that rents out residential or commercial property, you can't utilise this strategy to declare unreported revenue.

 It's possible that the landlord was unaware that he or she required to report the revenue to HMRC. Perhaps they were a non-UK resident who was a member of HMRC's 'Non-resident landlord scheme,' and they incorrectly assumed that membership meant they didn't have to declare their income.

On the other hand, the landlord could have been a UK resident with a property in another country, and they may have mistakenly assumed that the income would not be subject to UK tax because it was earned abroad. In the instance of a resident landlord with a property in the UK, it's possible that the landlord rents out many homes and forgot to declare one of them.

You can inform HMRC how much penalty you believe you should pay when you submit your disclosure. The amount you pay will be determined by the reason you failed to disclose your income. You'll face a stiffer penalty if you knowingly withheld information from HMRC than if you merely made a mistake.

If you enrolled for self-assessment and filed your tax returns on time, but just made a casual mistake while declaring your income, you only have to pay for a maximum of 6 years, regardless of how far behind on your taxes you are (gov.uk).

If you don't come forward and HMRC discovers you're overdue on your taxes later, the law authorises HMRC to search your records for up to 20 years, and in serious circumstances, HMRC may conduct a criminal inquiry.

DISCLOSURE

In order to make an income disclosure to HMRC, you will need a Government Gateway account. You can use a calculator to figure out how much money you owe. If you need to tell about more than 7 years of unpaid taxes, you'll need to use a different calculator. If you require additional payment time, you must contact the helpline before to the 90-day deadline

The taxpayer must notify HMRC that they desire to participate in the campaign and provide the amount of non-declared income as well as the penalty they believe they should be required to pay. If the taxpayer believes there is a valid basis for the omission, they must explain and justify why they should not be penalised.

To learn more about how a let property campaign works, contact Cheylesmore Chartered Accountants. We have a lot of experience dealing with HMRC and making sure that our clients' interests are protected.