Letting a property for the first time, or just want it done properly? We work out the tax on your rental income, claim every allowable expense and the mortgage-interest credit, and file your return so you keep more of your rent.
Tax on Rental Income
If you let a property, the profit, your rent after allowable expenses, is taxable and must be reported on a Self Assessment return once it passes £1,000 a year. Many landlords overpay because they miss allowable costs, or misunderstand the mortgage-interest rules, where relief is now given as a 20 per cent tax credit rather than a deduction from rent.
Your Tax Help Accountants prepares your property tax return, claiming every legitimate cost, letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance, insurance, ground rent and service charges, and the 20 per cent mortgage-interest credit, and works out your bill accurately. Whether you have one flat or a growing portfolio, we keep it right and fixed-fee.
Repairs are deductible but improvements are not, they are added to your cost for Capital Gains Tax when you sell. Getting that line right, and claiming the mortgage-interest credit correctly, is where most landlord returns go wrong.
The Detail That Matters
Rental profit is taxed as income, but what counts as profit is narrower than many landlords think: since the Section 24 changes, mortgage interest is only a 20% credit, not a deduction, which has pushed many landlords into higher tax than their real cash position suggests.
You are taxed on rent received less allowable expenses, letting agent fees, insurance, repairs (not improvements), safety certificates, ground rent and service charges. The first £1,000 of property income can instead be covered by the property allowance where that is better.
Finance costs, mortgage and loan interest, are no longer deductible from rental profit. Instead you get a basic-rate 20% tax credit. For higher-rate landlords this means being taxed on profit that includes money paid straight to the lender, so the tax bill can exceed the actual cash surplus.
Cash basis (taxed on money in and out) is now the default for most individual landlords, which simplifies things. If your rental profit is under £1,000 you may have nothing to report; between £1,000 and £2,500 net you can often contact HMRC without full Self Assessment; above that a return is due.
Jointly owned property is taxed 50:50 by default between spouses, but a Form 17 election with a declaration of trust can split the income in line with actual ownership, moving profit to a lower-rate spouse. For couples this is one of the simplest ways to cut the bill.
Higher-rate landlords are routinely caught by Section 24, taxed on a profit figure that includes their mortgage interest, so they can owe tax even in a year the property barely broke even in cash terms.
Key Figures
How We Help
Letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance, insurance, ground rent, service charges, and the replacement of furnishings, all captured so you pay tax only on real profit.
Mortgage interest is no longer deducted from rent but relieved as a 20 per cent tax credit. We apply it correctly so you get the relief you are entitled to.
Your rental income declared accurately on your return, your bill explained in advance, and everything filed on time so you never face a penalty.
All the forms, calculations and correspondence handled on your behalf, so you never have to decode HMRC's rules or sit on hold.
A clear fixed fee quoted after a free call, your position explained in plain English, and never a surprise bill.
We act quickly, and where earlier years are involved we put those right too, reclaiming refunds or minimising penalties.
Landlords are caught two ways: not filing at all, which builds penalties HMRC increasingly pursues using letting-agent and Land Registry data, and overpaying by missing expenses or the mortgage-interest credit. We make sure you file correctly and claim everything you are due.
Recent Client Outcome
A higher-rate landlord couple were declaring all the rent on the higher earner's return and had never adjusted for the mortgage interest rules correctly.
What we did. We applied the Section 24 20% credit properly, claimed previously omitted expenses (safety certificates, agent fees and repairs), and filed a Form 17 with a declaration of trust to split the income 90:10 towards the basic-rate spouse.
The outcome. Moving the bulk of the profit to the lower-rate spouse and capturing the missed expenses cut the couple's annual tax on the property by around £2,400, with the correct interest credit applied.
Nothing about the property changed, only how the income was reported, yet the tax fell substantially and correctly.
Why People Come to Us
Questions Answered
Want us to handle this for you, end to end?
See our Landlord Accountant →Free fifteen-minute call. Fixed quote within twenty-four hours. Your return filed, every expense claimed, your bill explained, and salon VAT, payroll and accounts handled if you own a salon. Same accountant, start to finish.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk, we typically respond within two business hours.
📅 Free consultation calls available weekdays 1pm to 3pm and 7pm to 8pm. Pick a slot that suits you.