Tax on UK rental income whilst living abroad

bluenovello

Hi,
I will shortly be moving to Australia (end March 2014) to live for 2 years minimum. I am going to rent my UK property out whilst I am away. The rental income from the property will be my only UK income. (My employment income in Australia will be with an Australian company and I will be paying tax on that in Australia.).
I will be applying to HMRC to defer the income tax due on the rental income so that it is paid as part of an annual assessment rather than deducted from the rent each month. After deduction of allowable expenses (e.g. interest payments on our mortgage, letting/management agent fees etc) the 'profit' (gross rent minus those expenses) is about £4500 per annum. It is on this amount that I understand the income tax is due.
The question I have is, as I will be non-UK resident for those two years, am I still entitled to a personal tax free allowance? Which in 2014/15 tax year is £9440. If yes, then in which case, am I right in saying that I won't actually owe HMRC any tax on this rental income, as the income amount (£4500) is less than my personal allowance, or am I missing something???
Hope someone can help.
Thanks.

NYM

You will need to register as a non-resident Landlord, but you can off set the deducted tax against your own tax bill at the end of the year.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm#13

PoorCharleyBear

You do get a personal allowance even when non-res.
Make sure you take advice from a competent tax accountant regarding offsets, and apply before you go for certificate as linked by NYM. Many managing agents (costs of which can also be offset)want this or charge a penal rate for 'managing your tax'

skintandscared_2

You should look into the residence thing carefully. You don't automatically become non-resident just by leaving the UK, especially if you still own property here, plan to return to it, have UK bank account(s) running and possibly still have immediate family here.