Latest Property

DIY Builder VAT Reclaims:  Get the detail right. A recent tax tribunal case highlighted the point of completion of a new build project in relation to DIY builder VAT claims. It noted that it is not necessarily the date on the Certificate of Completion which represents a building project as being finished. The Certificate can…

The “Axe the Tenant Tax” Group is a crowd-funded coalition of individuals and organisations supported by Cherie Blair and representing over 150,000 landlords. The group are campaigning for a judicial review hearing of the legislation in the summer 2015 Finance Act that seeks to restrict tax relief for finance costs borne by residential landlords. In some cases, the workings of the legislation will result in landlords having to pay more tax than their rental profit.

Making Tax Digital: 6 tax returns required each year! HMRC’s 6 Making Tax Digital consultation documents have been open for review and comment for several weeks now. As time has passed, it has become ever more apparent that there are enormous changes ahead for all taxpayers affected; initially the self-employed and landlords. Further review of the documents…

Small Buy-to-let Landlords: HMRC offers simplified tax rules. HMRC’s 12-week consultation into Making Tax Digital (MTD) published 15th August focuses on one of the measures aimed at simplifying the tax rules for unincorporated property businesses, giving landlords the choice to use the simplified cash basis, currently only available to some unincorporated traders. Landlords with annual business income below £10,000 will not be required to keep their business records digitally or provide quarterly updates to HMRC, but they will still be able to use the optional cash basis. Through using the cash basis, the move towards quarterly updates required by MTD would become more straightforward, giving landlords additional flexibility.

Landlords: Get ready for submitting 4 tax returns a year? H M Revenue & Customs will be implementing ‘ Making Tax Digital’ over the coming few years. Their aim is for ‘most’ landlords to be reporting their income each quarter via their digital tax account rather than after the end of the tax year on a tax return.

Transferring Second Property into Joint Names: Beware SDLT trap! We commonly advise married clients who are considering a transfer of rental property from one spouse into joint names. Where the owner spouse is a higher rate taxpayer, there is often a potential to make use of the other spouse’s basic rate tax band. The potential income…

Budget 2016: New CGT planning opportunities. George Osborne’s latest Budget heralded an unexpected reduction in CGT, lopping 8% off both the 18% and 28% rates. But not for residential property- George continued his attack on residential landlords. However, it may well be that sales of other assets are now best deferred until post 5 April…

+3% Extra Stamp Duty Land Tax: Unless you purchase before 1 April. Property investing clients will be aware than plans for a 3% stamp duty land tax surcharge for property purchases over £40k of second homes and  buy-to-lets are due to come into effect on 1 April 2016. This leaves a small window of opportunity…

Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED): Threshold reduced. The ATED charge applies to companies which own residential properties. On 1 April 2016, the lower threshold will be reduced from £1 million to £500,000. This will mean that many more companies will be caught within the ATED rules. The deadline for submission of the 2016/17 forms,…

Property Investors: Chancellor announces further tax changes. In his Autumn Statement George Osborne has announced two significant further tax changes for residential property investors: Firstly, Stamp Duty Land Tax rates will be increased by3% on purchases of residential properties, such as buy to let properties and second homes. This measure takes effect from 1 April…