Landlords - allowable expenses

somethingcorporate

I think you should direct the "oh dear" at yourself. You were the one getting uppity back in post number 5.

You said Premier had been "uptight" when their response was nothing of the sort, perhaps it is you that is too sensitive??

TrulyMadly

Yes you are perfectly right. I need to direct the "oh dear" to myself.

I think life is too short to get worked up over something so trivial (in the greater scheme of things:)

scottn

do you manage your own property from home? From memory there is a fixed rate allowable expense of £156 per year for home office expenses (covers heating, electricity, business calls etc)Please confirm that is the current rate before applying it though.

BoGoF

scottn wrote: »

do you manage your own property from home? From memory there is a fixed rate allowable expense of £156 per year for home office expenses (covers heating, electricity, business calls etc)Please confirm that is the current rate before applying it though.

That's for employees who are required to work at home.

gailforce_2

I quite understand what the original poster was asking. I have just filed my first ever tax return as a new joint landlord of a small flat. This year my expenses outweighed my income so I do not have to pay tax, however next year, having had a full years rental and less maintenance/repairs to do, I may well need to pay tax as, of course, I will have made a profit. I am trying to make a saving by not employing a tax specialist or accountant as I found the accounts and tax return relatively straightforward. So , as a newbie to this area, I share the same question....are there any other things that I can put on my tax return next time , to ensure that I am not paying tax on legitimate expenses that I may or may not be aware that I can add? For example, stationery, working from home expenses, (even though I am also employed), petrol to got to and from the DIY shops, and anything else that I may not done in the process of renting that I may not have realised was an expense to my rental property? It is easy to forget the kind of things you do over the time you rent a property that may well have been classed as an expense. What about the two days I took off work to do the garden and the weekof leave I took to redecorate....that kind of thing....It is not unreasonable for someone to ask if they have missed anything out that they may be entitled to include on their return. Nobody in their right mind wants to pay any tax that they are not due to pay, especially when we are propping up the deficit of those who don't pay at all when they should. I sympathise with the original poster of this question, and I was hoping to see some more sensible advice from this usually very helpful forum.

katejo

gailforce wrote: »

I quite understand what the original poster was asking. I have just filed my first ever tax return as a new joint landlord of a small flat. This year my expenses outweighed my income so I do not have to pay tax, however next year, having had a full years rental and less maintenance/repairs to do, I may well need to pay tax as, of course, I will have made a profit. I am trying to make a saving by not employing a tax specialist or accountant as I found the accounts and tax return relatively straightforward. So , as a newbie to this area, I share the same question....are there any other things that I can put on my tax return next time , to ensure that I am not paying tax on legitimate expenses that I may or may not be aware that I can add? For example, stationery, working from home expenses, (even though I am also employed), petrol to got to and from the DIY shops, and anything else that I may not done in the process of renting that I may not have realised was an expense to my rental property? It is easy to forget the kind of things you do over the time you rent a property that may well have been classed as an expense. What about the two days I took off work to do the garden and the weekof leave I took to redecorate....that kind of thing....It is not unreasonable for someone to ask if they have missed anything out that they may be entitled to include on their return. Nobody in their right mind wants to pay any tax that they are not due to pay, especially when we are propping up the deficit of those who don't pay at all when they should. I sympathise with the original poster of this question, and I was hoping to see some more sensible advice from this usually very helpful forum.

It is exactly for these reasons that I stick to the rent a room scheme and keep my rent below £4250. I'm just not comfortable about what I can claim if I switch to completing a tax return.

chrismac1

I also sympathise with the original poster, have sent him a link to the expenses I normally look for, some of which get missed by "DIY" clients - typically the client sets up a business so needs a professional job and we then find he or she has been DIY on a rental property and paying a bit too much tax. Not sure if the HMRC Toolkit on rental property is publicly available or just for agents - but these are very useful as they show you exactly what HMRC is going to focus on. So you know exactly where the line in the sand is between a legitimate tax return and a dodgy one.

I post on other similar forums. This is the only one where I have ever posted the following, which I do on here every 2 months or so:

The name of this forum is "Cutting Tax". If you are not OK with that, do not be on here.

Mikeyorks

chrismac1 wrote: »

The name of this forum is "Cutting Tax". If you are not OK with that, do not be on here.

Making up the rules again?

Perhaps you need to read the original - and unchanged - rationale for this particular forum.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=216&postcount=1

For the avoidance of doubt :

MSE_Martin wrote:

I've decided to add a board on tax questions and answers

chrismac1

Called "the Cutting Tax Board". At least that's what it says at the top of my screen. I must have really got to you HMRC stooges if you're going to quibble even that!

gailforce_2

katejo wrote: »

It is exactly for these reasons that I stick to the rent a room scheme and keep my rent below £4250. I'm just not comfortable about what I can claim if I switch to completing a tax return.[/QU

I've not looked into that scheme but i presum from the title that it's to do with renting a room in your own home, which isn't applicable as I have a rental flat....unless it would apply to renting the rooms in
the flat?? (2 bed)