Tax deductible expenses on letting our house.

archieboy

Looking for some advice please on what expenses are tax deductible on our rental income from our old house. We moved house almost 4 years ago and have been letting out the original one for most of that time. The house is in joint names of my wife and myself. We have filled in tax returns for each year we have been letting (we are both retired). We have a letting agent and we claim those fees as tax deductible as well as the landlords insurance which we pay. We also claim for the yearly gas certificate. What I am not so clear on is if we can make any claim for repairs which I have carried out at the rented house? There have been a few problems with shower and cistern leaks which I have repaired. I imagine that I can claim for replacement parts I have had to buy but what about my labour? Can I claim for that and if so what price do I put on it. Also a few times a year my wife and myself have to sort out the garden, doing jobs such as clearing dead shrubs, cutting back, pruning etc. can we claim for our time associated with this.

Werdnal

Any expenses for running the letting property are allowed. These include:

Agent fees + Vat
Insurance
GSC
Utilities and council tax during voids
Repairs and maintenance
Mortgage interest only.

You are not allowed to charge any expenses prior to the first letting, ie repainting etc before you first took a tenant. Also "improvements" do not apply.

Read the HMRC advice here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_10014027

00ec25

archieboy wrote: »

can we claim for our time associated with this.

yes you can cl;aim for it
BUT
as you yourself are therefore the "labourer" you are earning an income from this "work" and so a) must register this activity as self employment and b) declare your "income" as taxable income and pay tax on it

G_M

This post has links to the HMRC rules.

If you're not up to speed as yet on the tax aspect of letting, that post may also give you hints on other areas you may be overlooking.

HappyMJ

No you can't claim for your own personal labour...Well you could but then you have to declare the income that you paid yourself anyway and pay tax on it so you don't actually save anything.

You can however claim for mileage in the car whenever you visit the property to carry out work on it.

archieboy

Thank you all for your help. That's cleared things up for me.

Cariad71

Also, if it is furnished, you can claim a 10% allowance on overall net rent. It's wear and tear allowance.:j