Landlord accountants

The rental income and expenditure account for the property, a review of every expense category, the finance-cost credit calculation, the UK property pages and the rest of your Self Assessment return completed and filed with HMRC. Rental income alongside employment or a pension is the most common case and this fee covers it.

Since April 2020 individual landlords cannot deduct mortgage interest or other finance costs from rental profit. Instead you receive a tax reduction of 20% of the finance costs. For higher-rate taxpayers this means more tax than under the old rules, and the restriction can push rental profit into a higher band. We calculate it and carry forward any unused credit.

Letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance, buildings and contents insurance, ground rent and service charges, council tax and utilities you pay, accountancy, legal fees for lets of a year or less, replacing furniture and appliances, mileage to the property, and advertising. Improvements, your own labour and the capital part of mortgage payments are not allowable.

Replacing like with like, or with the modern equivalent, is a repair and deductible, even if the new kitchen is better quality because standards have risen. Adding something that was not there before, such as extending the kitchen or adding a dishwasher space, is an improvement and goes against the capital gain instead. We split mixed invoices.

Married couples and civil partners are taxed 50/50 by default regardless of actual ownership, unless you own in unequal shares and file Form 17 with evidence to be taxed on your actual shares. Unmarried joint owners are taxed on their actual shares. Choosing the right split can save tax where one of you is in a lower band.

The furnished holiday let regime ended on 5 April 2025. Holiday lets are now taxed like other residential lets: the finance-cost restriction applies, capital allowances on furniture are replaced by replacement relief, and the capital gains reliefs are withdrawn with transitional rules. Our £249 holiday let service handles the transition and the new treatment.

From April 2026 if your combined property and self-employment income was over £50,000 in 2024/25, from April 2027 if over £30,000, and planned for April 2028 at £20,000. It means digital records and quarterly updates to HMRC. We assess your start date as part of the return and set up the bookkeeping when it applies.

The first £1,000 of gross rental income each year is tax free, and if your rental income is under £1,000 you need not report it. Above £1,000 you can either deduct the allowance instead of expenses or claim actual expenses, whichever is better. It cannot be used with rent-a-room relief on the same income.

Rent-a-room relief exempts the first £7,500 a year of income from letting furnished accommodation in your main home, or £3,750 each if the income is shared. Above that you can pay tax on the excess over £7,500 or on actual profit. Lodgers, Airbnb rooms and short-term lets of a room all qualify.

HMRC's Let Property Campaign allows landlords to disclose undeclared rental income with lower penalties than if HMRC finds it, which with data from letting agents, deposit schemes and councils it increasingly does. We quantify the undeclared years, prepare the disclosure and negotiate the settlement. Acting first is always cheaper.

Yes. UK rental income is taxed in the UK regardless of your residence, with the personal allowance available to most non-residents. Letting agents or tenants must deduct 20% at source unless you are approved under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme to receive rent gross. We handle the approval and the annual return.

Sometimes. A company deducts mortgage interest in full and pays Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, but extracting profit costs dividend tax, mortgages are dearer and transferring existing properties triggers CGT and SDLT. It suits higher-rate taxpayers building a portfolio long term; it rarely suits one or two properties. Our tax planning review runs the numbers.