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HMRC is chasing short lettings.

HM Revenue and Customs has launched a crackdown on the rapidly growing short-term rental market,

Airbnb

launching an initial sweep targeting around 1,000 property owners who it suspects are not paying sufficient taxes. Based on information from online lettings platforms like Airbnb, the tax agency is sending out its first so-called "nudge" letters this month to those it believes have failed to declare the revenue generated by renting out on their tax returns. Recipients of the letters are given 30 days to respond or face an official investigation of their tax affairs. The scrutiny from HMRC comes as the rented-out market has grown rapidly over the past few years, helped by the preferred tax treatment for short-term lets over a traditional purchase-to-let.

About 127,000 people in Britain declared property holdings in holiday rentals as businesses on their tax returns for 2019-20, the latest year for which figures are available. Unfortunately, Airbnb does not provide a geographic breakdown of rental numbers by country. Still, an analysis conducted by The Guardian in 2020 showed that its UK-based active listings increased from 76,000 to 257,000 between April 2016 and January 2020. 

www.sba.tax

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  1. Alberta26 February 2023 at 12:26

    What a huge increase?! From just 76,000 in 2016 to 257,000 in 2020!!! The market has at least tripled in just 4 years! Of course there probably are some people who are trying not to pay all their taxes. And I wonder if there aren't more than just 1000 of them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JD26 February 2023 at 16:07

    Most will probably try to fix this within those 30 days and it will be in their best interest to do so. I think over 70% of them will take advantage of this last chance to set things right.

    ReplyDelete

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