Further crackdown on property landlords

HMRC has announced a campaign of checks into property incomde and letters it is sending to landlords it suspects of not declaring rental income received.

HMRC states that: “The campaign is designed for people who receive income from property but have not disclosed it to HMRC. This is the first of a series of new type interventions designed to help ease the customer burden, by avoiding lengthy, more traditional compliance reviews.

The approach will use a series of letters, each with clear direction and guidance, along with a standard form that can be used to return details. Where no reply is received, consideration will be given to further compliance action.

Where the taxpayer has authorised an agent to act for him/her, we will send the query to the agent, with a copy going to the taxpayer.”

These measures follows recent initiatives by HMRC as part of a crackdown on the rental property sector in addition to news that Rightmove, the internet property sales site, is now allowing access to HMRC of information on its site.

If you have undeclared property income we suggest you speak to your accountant sooner rather than later!