Now is your chance to have a say about making property and landlord tax simpler and less taxing.

The government’s tax boffins want landlords and property professionals to tell them how they think the landlord taxes should change.

The plea comes from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), which wants landlords to highlight areas of tax that they find complicated and make suggestions about improvements.

 The online survey call for evidence to support future property tax changes.

The survey is a real chance for the 2.9 million landlords, 32,000 partnerships and 67,908 directors of property companies involved in the UK private rented sector to impact the ground-floor of tax policymaking.

Contents

What does the OTS want to know?

The OTS wants to hear directly from individual landlords, small property businesses and their professional bodies about how they believe property tax can be made easier.

Evidence is wanted about the aspects of property tax landlords find most taxing and how they might be improved.

The survey runs alongside the deeper call for evidence seeking more detailed information about technical and practical ways to improve the tax system.

The OTS promises online meetings with landlords and property professionals responding to the call for evidence. The deadline for booking a meeting is May 3, 2022.

The survey looks at several residential property tax topics.

The survey questions

The first batch of questions profile you as a landlord by asking if you make money from property, if you let short or long term and how many properties you rent out. Some personal data is sought as well – like how long you have been a landlord, how you structure your business and if your rented properties are in the UK or overseas.

The OTS then asks if you have had difficulties in understanding how taxable profits are distributed between joint owners.

Next, the survey looks at how landlords acquire a property – for example,  buying, switching a home they have lived in to a rental property, or inheritance.

For landlords with mortgages, there’s a chance to comment on the controversial mortgage interest relief rules

The OTS then asks a question about landlord awareness of the tax-free £1,000 a year property allowance

Taxing holiday lets

The second part of the survey looks at furnished holiday letting businesses.

Asking a range of questions about personal use, where they are, how the properties are managed and any difficulties landlords have with the furnished holiday letting tax system.

Lastly, the OTS asks if landlords use the rent-a-room scheme, where they seek tax advice and how accounting records are kept.

The survey asks landlords 35 questions and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

More information about the survey and call for evidence is contained in a property income scoping document and the call for evidence published online.

Responding to the call for evidence

Besides the survey, the OTS wants more detailed responses from landlords and property professionals that cover a range of factors.

One of the key questions is why do landlords incorporate their property letting businesses and is the decision motivated by how much tax is paid?

Other questions include how often do owners use their furnished holiday lets, do landlords have problems finding out about how property tax works and concerns non-resident landlords have about reporting their income and taxes.

What is the OTS?

The OTS is an independent adviser tasked with simplifying the tax system for the government.

Although the OTS can recommend policy, the agency has no powers to make or change laws.

What does the survey mean?

The OTS survey and call for evidence shows the government is thinking about the way property letting businesses are taxed.

 

More information

We have more information about tax for England and Wales.