Client Story
How we sorted a Hither Green commuter's overdue returns and rental tax
Client R is a Hither Green professional commuting into the City, who'd inherited and let out a flat a few years earlier but hadn't realised the rental income meant he needed to file self-assessment. He'd not declared the rental income for three years and was anxious about the consequences when he realised.
We sorted it cleanly. We made a voluntary disclosure to HMRC through the Let Property Campaign (which offers better terms than waiting to be caught), reconstructed three years of rental accounts (claiming all allowable expenses, Section 24-adjusted mortgage interest, repairs, insurance, agent fees, ground rent and service charges), calculated the correct tax due, and negotiated the reduced penalties available under voluntary disclosure.
Total outcome: three years of rental income properly disclosed through the Let Property Campaign with significantly reduced penalties versus being caught, all allowable expenses claimed (keeping the tax due to a minimum), and Client R now compliant with a simple annual process.