Since the previous chancellor, George Osborne, set on a path to help renters and first-time buyers, tax benefits for private landlords have been slowly reduced over time. With the additional 3% stamp duty charge on buy-to-let and home ownership 2nd properties, removal of the wear and tear allowance or the phasing out of tax relief on mortgage interest, for private landlords, the situation is not improving. Landlords with just one or two properties have been hit the hardest; a fact that may be fueling the growing trend where more landlords are operating through limited companies to achieve tax savings.
The concern is amplified across the property landlord sector, with the previous Conservative Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, losing his seat to the Labour Party and becoming the 15th housing minister in the past twenty years. This result could also lead to further changes to the housing white paper.
Making Tax Digital is expected to impact 1.8m UK private landlords, who will have to keep digital records of their income and expenditure for the forthcoming quarterly tax submission. Talk to us about how QuickBooks Online and cloud accounting can help you prepare your tax affairs more efficiently.