I was wondering if any private landlord has done tax themselves instead of hiring an accountant?
If so how is it done?
I read what is tax deductible but it was too vague as there are hundreds of household items and the gov website do not cover them all. Things like speaker, computer screen, office chair etc. do they count as deductible? I don’t want to bother people every time whenever there is an item getting replaced that i am not sure of.
So it will be great to know if there is some kind of clear document or logic of how to do this?
Also am I right in saying that in a nutshell, it is simply just filling a form on HMRC saying how much rent is and deductible cost is based on your own understanding of what items are eligible and then ensure you have the receipts for completeness in case HMRC check on you? (most likely they won’t given how insignificant one particular landlord is, but just in case)
I suspect that the vast majority of landlords do their own tax return. Its easy. The online form is fully automated and its hard to go wrong. The thing to watch out for is at the end when it tells you how much to pay, it doesn’t take account of payments you have made on account so you have to work that out yourself.
To quote HMRC, you can claim: “Expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the property rental business. … This means that if an expense was not incurred for the purpose of your property rental business, in any way at all, then you cannot offset the cost against the rental income”
If you are talking items in a furnished house, you can’t claim the first time you buy an item, but you can claim like for like replacements. So, if you are providing speakers etc for tenants, you can claim replacements.
If you’re talking speakers etc in your own home, I would find it difficult to see how they could be necessary for your letting business.
To do your tax return, you need to register with HMRC and get a tax reference (UTR) and set up an account to file online, then you just fill it in.
