Hi all.
I wonder if someone could kindly help. I understand that inbetween letting a property, council tax is payable by the landlord for the period between one tenant moving out and another moving in. Does anyone know if the cost of this council tax can be added as a legitimate tax expense ….even if the landlord ISN’T set up as a company. Any help will be greatly appreciated thanks Steve
yes its tax deductable
Colin - thanks really appreciate your help. Do you know if there is any time limit that the property may remained unoccupied ( ie 3 months/ 6 months etc) thanks
some councils give one month "free " empty, others no leeway at all The council will probably have it on their website
It used to be 6 months empty ,no council tax Until the goverment told L A S they could make their own rule . So guess what happened? You cannot trust Local Authorities
What Colin said up there
In Derby, you get 28 days free.
Be wary though, some authorities slap a surcharge on if it is empty too long - eg Wolverhampton charge an extra 100% if a propery has been empty for more than 2 years, and 200% if more than 5 years!
In terms of how long it is tax deductible: if you are still intending to let the property (eg you are refurbing etc) then, as long as it is empty.
notify your insurer too if the property is empty
Really appreciate all the help……and great point about telling the insurer. So that I’m totally clear, i gather I should notify the local council and hope they agree not to charge council tax whilst it’s empty ( for what will hopefully be only a couple of months)……but if the council do charge then I can log the council tax charge as an expense on my tax return with all the other repairs etc.
Thanks again for helping out a novice