Static caravan income

DulwichRed

Dear Forum  
Just before lockdown I purchased a static caravan.
 To help with the site fees c£4,400 pa I let it out for short periods through Air BnB. I also use the caravan myself during the year. As the income I have received falls well short of the running costs, site fees, maintenance and repairs, utility costs, cleaning costs etc - it never occurred to me that this income needs to be declared for tax purposes. I recently recieved an email from Air BnB saying that they now required my NI number and that they were obliged to collect this and share with HMRC. I am a pensioner, and recieve the state pension and an occupational pension, so its all PAYE.

Can you advise plse, I'm guessing I need to complete a self assessment with regards to the caravan income now, is there a need for me to back date this to the time I purchased the 'van??. I'm presuming there's a place on the Self Assessment form where I can show expenditures as well as income, and also a % of the original cost of purchase of the 'van (not sure what % I should show though). Also this year I had to spend £4000 on rebuilding the decking to make it safer - how should expenditure like this be shown, should a % be shown over a number of yrs etc??.

I'd really welcome some expert guidance please

DE_612183

There is a checker on HMRC - https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return

And yes you are right you can net off the income against any expenses - although if you only let the caravan for 2 months of the year, you can only claim 1/6th of the site fees...

not sure you can claim capital expenses.

FlorayG

Yes you need to backdate it but I think it's unlikely that you will have to pay anything more than a few pounds. As said above, you have to divide any annual fees by the number of months the 'van was used 'commercially' and then you also include all the costs you have had in maintaining it ( again divided by the commercial months) and also, I would expect, a depreciation figure as static caravans have a limited useful life unlike houses rented out (but you need to check this). The form takes FOREVER if you've not done it before, but you can keep going back and correcting where you've inevitably done it wrong, then right at the end you are asked to check it all before you submit it, so don't get frightened by the length of it! Also, have all your figures to hand before you start; they want to know every penny put in and taken out

Bookworm105

the van is used for both personal and business purposes, therefore not all of the costs related to it will be purely for business purposes and so they need to be apportioned between claimable business use and non claimable private use.

has the amount of letting put you over the threshold for being a "furnished holiday let" (FHL)?
If it has, the tax treatment is a bit more generous than if it must be declared as rental profit only

HS253 Furnished holiday lettings (2024) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

in respect of claiming the purchase cost of the van itself I suggest you get professional advice. Whilst I agree it is an item with a limited lifespan, whether that means it can be declared on an income tax return as a "cost" or is in fact still treated as a capital asset is a moot point. You need to read up on "wasting asset" and CGT 
CG76700 - Wasting assets - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Yes you should have declared your income from the outset as you have untaxed rental income, which is a specific cause for doing a tax return.
Whether you wish to do so now by backdating is a matter for your own moral compass. if you do, I would recommend getting professional help as amending closed tax returns for previous years can open a can of worms