If you let out a furnished holiday home in the UK or elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA), your rental income may be treated differently for tax purposes from other rental income. However, the following rules must be complied with.

Rules for furnished holiday lettings for the 2011-12 tax year

To make sure your property qualifies as a furnished holiday letting, it must be:

• in the UK or EEA,
• furnished,
• available for commercial letting to the public, as holiday accommodation, for at least 140 days a year (210 days for 2012-13),
• commercially let as holiday accommodation for at least 70 days a year (105 days for 2012-13) - the rent must be charged at market rate and not at cheap rates to friends and family, and
• a short term letting of no more than 31 days

NB. A property can be let for periods longer than 31 days in one stretch but none of these days will count towards the above test. This is known as ‘longer term occupation’. Where the total of all ‘longer term occupation’ is more than 155 days in the tax year, the property will not qualify as a furnished holiday letting.

Tax advantages of furnished holiday lettings

The tax advantages if your property qualifies as a furnished holiday letting are:

• You can claim capital allowances
• You can benefit from some favourable capital gains tax rules when you sell or 'otherwise dispose' of the property.

NB. – For 2010-11 and prior years, losses arising from furnished holiday lettings could be set against general income. For 2011-12 onwards, this no longer applies.

Working out your taxable profit

Your profit on furnished holiday lettings is worked out in the same way as for other rental income. The only difference is you can claim 'capital allowances' rather than the 'wear and tear' allowance that other rental businesses receive. Examples of expenses that qualify for capital allowances include the cost of furnishings and furniture, and equipment such as refrigerators and washing machines.

If you make a loss

You can carry a loss forward and offset it against future letting profits. If you have a UK holiday let the losses can only reduce the future holiday let profits of the UK holiday home. If you have an EEA holiday let the loss can only reduce future EEA holiday let profits. You cannot use a holiday let loss to reduce your other taxable income. These rules about losses are new for 2011-12.

If you sell or ‘otherwise dispose’ of the property

You may be able to take advantage of capitals gains tax reliefs, such as ‘business asset roll-over relief’. For example, if you reinvest within three years in another UK furnished holiday letting property, or certain other assets costing the same as or more than you got for the property you have sold, you may be able to defer payment of the capital gains tax until you dispose of those new assets.

You may also pay less capital gains tax when you sell a property you have used for UK furnished holiday letting, compared with other residential let property (such as buy to let). This is because a UK furnished holiday letting property is treated as a business asset and should qualify for entrepreneurs’ relief which has a 10% rate of tax for the first five million pounds of profit.

The amount by which the gain is reduced will depend on how long you have owned the property and how long you have used it for qualifying holiday letting.

To understand the rules fully, and find out about other relief’s you may qualify for, ask your professional adviser or tax office about capital gains tax reliefs on the sale of UK furnished holiday lettings property.

Allowable expenses

Some expenses relating to the property can be taken into account to reduce your tax bill. Such as;

• letting agents fees,
• accountants fees and certain legal fees,
• accountants fees,
• building and contents insurance,
• maintenance and repairs to the property, and
• utility bills, council tax, ground rents and service charges

What paperwork do you need to keep?

In order to be able to complete the land and property pages you need to keep:

• a note of all the rent you receive and the dates you rent out the property,
• a record of your business expenses,
• sales receipts, invoices and bank statements

All these records must be retained for six years after the tax year concerned.

This information is provided as a guide only and is subject to change. Always seek professional advice from a qualified tax adviser before taking any action.

Tax information provided by:

Vicky Curran
Cole Marie Partners Limited
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
Priory House
45-51 High Street
Reigate
Surrey
RH2 9AE

www.colemarie.co.uk

 

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