Not declaring income from rented property

Neverland

pokey128 wrote: »

I kind of wish there was a way of reporting her without any chance of it coming back to me.

There is, just ring up your local tax office and tell them the names of the owners, the address and the agent (if you know it)

Any one of the tenants, the neioghbours or the agent could have done it, they won't know its you

Simple, conscience clear

pokey128

I don't know the exact addresses of the let properties so can't find the landlord details - have tried that before but I am pretty sure they are registered as they are letting through a reputable agency.
I'm toying with the hmrc form but would be devastated if she found out it was me who reported her

Neverland

pokey128 wrote: »

I don't know the exact addresses of the let properties so can't find the landlord details - have tried that before but I am pretty sure they are registered as they are letting through a reputable agency.
I'm toying with the hmrc form but would be devastated if she found out it was me who reported her

Tax fraud is no different from benefit fraud, shoplifting or simple theft

I would report her without any compunction

kingstreet

ognum wrote: »

Don't think that it matters if you make a profit, you still need to do the return

I wasn't thinking of that. I was thinking the implications of late filing won't be as bad if there's no taxable profit to declare. It sounds like there is, so it's likely to be a bit painful.

theartfullodger

pokey128 wrote: »

I don't know the exact addresses of the let properties so can't find the landlord details - have tried that before but I am pretty sure they are registered as they are letting through a reputable agency.
...

In that case LandlordregistrationScotland should have a record of the landlord (from their name & address..) and you can find the property from there...

franklee

pokey128 wrote: »

She doesn't do one for her flat because they need the money

pokey128 wrote: »

I do know that they are making a profit of about 5-600 a month since the interest rates dropped.

pokey128 wrote: »

Nor could I be sure what kind of mortgage they have on the flats - I do know that it must be a base rate tracker though as it has dropped by 400 a month since the 0.5 rate came along.

Apart from the back tax what are they going to do when interest rates return to normal and their profit of about 5-600 a month drops by that 400 a month? They are walking into financial problems if they are relying on money generated by a 0.5 interest rate.

As for the tax man finding out, the tenant will have given their names at that address for everything from council tax (or Scottish equivalent), utility bills, credit cards and bank statements. Likewise your friend will have done the same for their own address. Looking up credit records will easily show who lives where. Anything could set the tax man into that, perhaps a disgruntled tenant who didn't get their deposit back, a neighbour unhappy with a noisy tenant, the mortgage lender, insurance company, routine check of their business or electoral roll. Besides which if the landlord registration in Scotland isn't a handy list to trawl for cross checking I'd be amazed. Oh and for the flat there is your equivalent of a managing agent, is that a factor or something, what if they complain?

ognum

pokey128 wrote: »

I don't know the exact addresses of the let properties so can't find the landlord details - have tried that before but I am pretty sure they are registered as they are letting through a reputable agency.
I'm toying with the hmrc form but would be devastated if she found out it was me who reported her

How would she find out, the form only requires her name and address, not the address of the rental property or any details about you it is anonymous.

FTBFun

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

Since you claim to be this woman's friend (although the subtext has a different message) then using all the information above, I would persist in convincing her rather than furtively betraying your friendship.
For what it's evidently worth.

I agree with this. It's also better for her to approach HMRC rather than HMRC to find out first.

If she's lucky she'll only have to pay interest on top of the late paid tax. But that depends on HMRC.

pokey128

Thanks everyone again!
She is the mum of my son's best friend so I do see her a lot and yes, count her as a friend. But, ever since I found out they aren't declaring their income I have spoken to her about it and she used to say that she would get on to it but now she is telling me that she isnt' going to do it. (she had asked me for help with her new business accounts when this came up and I offered help with the flat accounts as well)

I'm at a total loss!! If she does just get done with the tax and missing interest then that wouldn't be so bad but would hate for her to get the jail!

@Franklee - the interest rate dropping has allowed her to not go back to work after maternity leave until very recently and now they need the money for a new kitchen so I don't think they will be destitute without it

Yorkie1

As others have said, there's no way you can be traced back through the online form.

If they are making £500 per month gross profit, that's £6K per year, which is £24K for 4 years. Admittedly there will be deductible expenses but that's a lot of evaded money.

This country is in a mess financially and every little bit helps. Yet this woman is choosing to put her own greed above the law and others.

I'd have no qualms about telling the authorities.