Are these allowable landlord expenses?

dllive

ProDave wrote: »

Interestingly on my last tax return I had the option of claiming actual allowable expenses, OR ticking a box to claim a flat rate of £1000

Since my actual expenses were less than £1000, I chose the £1000 option.

(I don't have any form of mortgage so my expenses are only insurance and maintenance)

Interestingly as this property is jointly owned, we each declare half the income so we each had a £1000 box to tick. Happy days.

I don't seem to see much discussion of this flat rate £1000 option so can only assume most landlords expenses are > £1000?

Interesting. Do you think that £1000 option is the equivalent of claiming the flat £10 per month if youre self employed and working from home? In other words, you dont have to provide receipts.

Ive been reading the HMRC's guidance and this may be what you mean: https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/paying-tax . "... The first £1,000 of your income from property rental is tax-free. This is your ‘property allowance’." ?

ProDave

dllive wrote: »

Interesting. Do you think that £1000 option is the equivalent of claiming the flat £10 per month if youre self employed and working from home? In other words, you dont have to provide receipts.

Ive been reading the HMRC's guidance and this may be what you mean: https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/paying-tax . "... The first £1,000 of your income from property rental is tax-free. This is your ‘property allowance’." ?

I do a paper tax return so don't have it to refer to, it has been posted long ago.

I recall I could either claim all the alowable expenses individually listed in a few categories, or tick the box to claim £1000 which is what I did. It does sound line in effect the first £1000 tax free thing.

dllive

Am I able to claim home insurance as an expense? On the HMRC website it reads "...insurance, such as landlords’ policies for buildings, contents and public liability"

At the moment I dont have a specific 'landlords insurance'. I just have normal home insurance with the endorsement that a tenant is living there.

pramsay13

dllive wrote: »

Am I able to claim home insurance as an expense? On the HMRC website it reads "...insurance, such as landlords’ policies for buildings, contents and public liability"

At the moment I dont have a specific 'landlords insurance'. I just have normal home insurance with the endorsement that a tenant is living there.

Again it is an expense that is wholly for the rental property so it is fine. The fact it is technically normal home insurance doesn't matter for tax purposes.
Does it definitely cover all you want it to though?

dllive

Just reading through the HMRC documentation on whats an allowable expense before letting.

It reads:


You must meet these conditions:

- Wholly and exclusively
- Not capital expense
- Within 7 years of the letting starting
- Would have been allowables if spent after letting

Does that mean - for example - I can claim the expense of getting the chimney swept for the 7 years before I started letting the property!?

Pixie5740

dllive wrote: »

Just reading through the HMRC documentation on whats an allowable expense before letting.

It reads:


You must meet these conditions:

- Wholly and exclusively
- Not capital expense
- Within 7 years of the letting starting
- Would have been allowables if spent after letting

Does that mean - for example - I can claim the expense of getting the chimney swept for the 7 years before I started letting the property!?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Is that when you were living in the property yourself?

silvercar

dllive wrote: »

Just reading through the HMRC documentation on whats an allowable expense before letting.

It reads:


You must meet these conditions:

- Wholly and exclusively
- Not capital expense
- Within 7 years of the letting starting
- Would have been allowables if spent after letting

Does that mean - for example - I can claim the expense of getting the chimney swept for the 7 years before I started letting the property!?

Did you do that wholly and exclusively for the purpose of letting. I would suggest that doing it once prior to letting would be sufficient. Why would you repeat each year in anticipation of future letting?

dllive

Oh dear - yes, I misunderstood!!! Thanks for clarifying. I thought that was too good to be true!! (not that I have any receipts going back 7 years)

saajan_12

dllive wrote: »

Just reading through the HMRC documentation on whats an allowable expense before letting.

It reads:


You must meet these conditions:

- Wholly and exclusively - no, maybe if it was 1 cleaning but repeated cleaning is clearly not exclusively for the letting
- Not capital expense - yes cleaning isn't really changing the capital value
- Within 7 years of the letting starting - yes
- Would have been allowables if spent after letting - yes

Does that mean - for example - I can claim the expense of getting the chimney swept for the 7 years before I started letting the property!?

No, repeated cleaning is not exclusively for the letting. The point of the rule to capture expenses to get the property ready for letting, not unrelated costs for you to live there.