Loss Relief with FHL-Before and After

If a taxpayer makes a loss on furnished holiday lettings, he could take advantage of a special relief called Loss Relief.
The way to get this relief is to offset your furnished holiday lettings losses against any other type of income (employment, self employment etc) and so you can immediate take advantage of the relief.
Taxpayers can claim to set their furnished holiday lettings losses against their other general income for either the tax year in which the loss was made or the year before the year the loss arose.Of course another option is to carry the loss forward and offset it against future letting profits. This option is available not only for holiday lets but also for residential ones.

As from 2010-11 tax year , the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules will be repealed. Among the changes to take place from 2010-11 is the one related to the Loss Relief.

As a result of this change no loss relief will be available to offset against other type of income from 2010/2011. Only option is to carry forward the loss and offset it against same type of income when a profit is made as with any normal residential lettings case.

Another important change worth mentioning is the fact that "HMRC will now treat the FHL rules as including furnished holiday accommodation elsewhere in the EEA."

That being said you can amend your already submitted tax returns to HMRC so you can take advantage of the reliefs previously only available for FHL in the UK.

You can amend your income tax and capital gains tax returns for the year ended on 5th April 2007 until the end of July this month.The same deadline applies to corporation tax returns for accounting periods ending on or after 31 December 2006. If you want to amend your return for 07/08 tax year then you need to do it by 31/01/2010.

If there is still confusion in relation to loss relief with FHL or the rules to be repealed from 2010/2011 you can visit HMRC website or ask Taxfile's tax accountants for more details.

Commercial letting of furnished holiday accommodation and tax

Commercial letting is defined as 'let on a commercial basis and with a view to the realisation of profits'.
Accommodation is furnished if the tenant is entitled to use of sufficient furniture.

It will generally be necessary to calculate the furnished holiday lettings profit or loss separately from the rest of the rental business.

If a letting is to qualify as furnished holiday letting(FHL)a few conditions should be met:
• the property to be in the UK ;
• property has to be furnished;
• property should be available for holiday letting to the public for at least 140 days a year;
• it should be let commercially for 70 days or more, and
• cannot not be occupied for more than 31 days by the same person in any period of 7 months.
The difference between residential lets and holiday lets is that with residential ones you can claim a certain relief called wear and tear as compared to the holiday ones where you can claim capital allowances.

Capital allowances can include the cost of furnishings and furniture, and equipment such as refrigerators and washing machines.

Another important difference between residential and holiday lettings is that with holiday ones you can offset any loss you make in the year against other type of income.
You may also 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.
To work out your taxable profit you deduct your allowable expenses from your gross rental income. These include:
•Letting agent fees (where applicable)
•Legal and accountant fees
•Buildings and contents insurance
•Interest on mortgage payments
•Maintenance and repair costs (but not improvements)
•Utility bills
•Council Tax
•Cleaning or gardening
•Other costs related to letting the property, such as phone calls, advertising and stationery.
Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation in the UK are
currently treated as if they are trading for certain tax purposes, as long as they
satisfy the above criteria.
Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation elsewhere in the
European Economic Area (EEA) cannot currently qualify for this treatment. They
were treated instead in the same way as landlords of other types of overseas
property, under the property income rules.
The Government has decided it should repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings rules from 2010-11.

Next week we are going to talk about these changes in more detail.

If you are still confused about lettings in relation to tax, Taxfile's tax agents in South London and accountants in Exeter are here to assist you.