Letting my house, tax, capital gains etc...

Innys1

Guest101 wrote: »

It's irrelevant, it's an income.

Why do you think rent a room cheme includes any payments for bills?

I'm not referring to the rent a room scheme, I'm talking about CGT - see my earlier post.

booksurr

Innys1 wrote: »

No, not at all like that.

Your utility bills, which is what I believe the OP is talking about, do not go up because you happen to be working for an employer. In fact, quite the reverse is often the case.

The OP took in guests/lodgers and because their utility bills went up, their new housemates compensated them for the cost.

If the OP went to work for an employer, the wages they received would not be to compensate the OP for any increase in utility bills, it would be to compensate them for their work efforts.

totally misses the point and is plain wrong

the rent a room scheme expressly requires that NO claim can be made for any bills incurred by the owner when letting a room. In recognition of that the RAR gives a tax free allowance to cover those costs

if the lodger ("guest") pays anything towards "their" share of the bills then that is a payment towards the landlords costs and is therefore income under the RAR.

that incidentally is also how bed and breakfast businesses are treated for tax, they are "guests" as well

booksurr

Innys1 wrote: »

It seems odd to me that if someone stays in the OP's house and only contributes to their share of the bills, nothing in the way of rent, they are deemed a lodger and so, potentially, could have an impact on the OP's CGT position. If those are the rules, fine - it just seems a bit unfair.

liability to CGT would not be based on that though would it

it would be based on a host of factors, including, but not limited to:

does the "guest"
- have a permanent home or legal interest in a property elsewhere: No, not in this case
- treat the place as though it were their home, would others expect to be able to contact them there?
- have a social life based upon that address
- commute to and from work from that address
- live as part of the owner's household. That means more than just sharing the costs of bills. furthermore, for example, if they don't have equal rights in the property or a clear contractual relationship (eg au pair/nanny) then they are not part of a single household and the owner has 2 or more households in residence, his own plus one or more lodger households

based on the above the guest becomes a lodger

Innys1

booksurr wrote: »

totally misses the point and is plain wrong

the rent a room scheme expressly requires that NO claim can be made for any bills incurred by the owner when letting a room. In recognition of that the RAR gives a tax free allowance to cover those costs

if the lodger ("guest") pays anything towards "their" share of the bills then that is a payment towards the landlords costs and is therefore income under the RAR.

that incidentally is also how bed and breakfast businesses are treated for tax, they are "guests" as well

At the risk of repeating myself - I was referring to CGT, not the rent a room scheme and CGT, as it happens, appears the title of the thread.

You, sir, have missed totally the point

Innys1

booksurr wrote: »

liability to CGT would not be based on that though would it

it would be based on a host of factors, including, but not limited to:

does the "guest"
- have a permanent home or legal interest in a property elsewhere: No, not in this case
- treat the place as though it were their home, would others expect to be able to contact them there?
- have a social life based upon that address
- commute to and from work from that address
- live as part of the owner's household. That means more than just sharing the costs of bills. furthermore, for example, if they don't have equal rights in the property or a clear contractual relationship (eg au pair/nanny) then they are not part of a single household and the owner has 2 or more households in residence, his own plus one or more lodger households

based on the above the guest becomes a lodger

I was responding to post #18.

delmonta

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the info, but why do so many threads on every forum have to end up like this! This kind of semi aggressive 'know it all' back and forth. Its surely not how anyone would have a conversation in real life?

My questions have been answered, but you are welcome to continue arguing about it