Tax information - Holiday let mortgages

Holiday lettings is recognised as a business (generating earned income) by the Inland revenue, unlike other forms of property letting which the Inland Revenue class as investment income (unearned income). There are some valuable tax incentives for letting your property as a holiday home, but there are some specific Inland Revenue rules which you must follow to qualify.

Tax Rules for holiday lettings ( provided by www.direct.go.uk website.)

To make sure your property counts as a Furnished Holiday Let (FHL), it must be:
* in the UK
* furnished
* available for holiday letting to the public for at least 140 days a year
* actually let as a holiday let for at least 70 days a year (and these must be commercial lets not at cheap rates to friends and family)

The holiday lets must be (both):

* short term lets of not more than 31 days
* the only lets over a period of at least seven months

Other restrictions

You can't let the property as a holiday let to the same person for more than 31 days in the year. However, if you meet all the qualifying tests in a seven month period there are no restrictions on longer lets in the remaining five month period. But these longer lets do not count as holiday lets.


Working out your taxable profit

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

You can learn more about capital allowances and working out profits for UK holiday lettings in the land and property help notes of the Self Assessment tax return. If your property doesn't qualify as a holiday let, you will be taxed as normal for residential property lettings.

Tax advantages of UK holiday lettings

With UK holiday lettings, you can realise a tax advantage if you make a loss on your earnings from the property, and when you sell the property:

If you make a loss

Any loss can be offset against your other income, not just the property income, reducing your overall tax bill. Or you can carry the loss forward and offset it against future letting profits. Learn more about offsetting losses in the land and property help notes of the Self Assessment tax return.

When you sell the property

You may be able to take advantage of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs, such as 'business asset roll-over relief'. For example, if you reinvest within three years in another UK 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 CGT until you dispose of those new assets.

You may also pay less CGT when you sell a property you have used for UK holiday letting, compared with other residential let property (such as buy to let). This is because a UK holiday letting property is treated as a business asset and should qualify for the new entrepreneurs' relief which has a 10% rate of tax for the first one 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 CGT reliefs on the sale of UK holiday lettings property.

How to declare your income and expenses

You need to declare your rental income from furnished holiday lettings using the land and property pages of your Self Assessment tax return. If you don't receive one automatically, contact your local Tax Office, or register online at the HMRC website.

Allowable expenses

Some expenses relating to the property can be taken into account to reduce your tax bill. For a detailed list of expenses you can deduct and those you can't, see our related article and the notes to the land and property pages of the Self Assessment tax return.

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 (see the Self Assessment land and property pages help notes for what counts as business expenses)
sales receipts, invoices and bank statements
all these records for six years after the tax year concerned

If you need help completing the pages, call the Self Assessment helpline on 0845 9000 444 (open 8.00 am to 10.00 pm seven days per week).

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

Published: 16.1.2011