Choosing The Right Lakes Location For Your Holiday Let
So, you’ve already decided to purchase a holiday rental in the Lake District, which is consistently rated as one...
Owning a holiday home can be a very rewarding business. Not only does it provide a comfortable place to stay for yourself, family & friends, but it can also be a great source of income.
Understanding tax on holiday lets can be confusing so we’ve put together this easy-to-read guide to help you understand the benefits and tax relief you could enjoy from your Furnished Holiday Let.
A Furnished Holiday Let (or FHL) is a certain category of rental accommodation in the UK, Ireland & other European countries. To qualify as a FHL your property must be:
Your property will cease being a Furnished Holiday Let if it is either sold, or used for private occupation.
For more information about the requirements for a FHL, take a look at the HS253 Helpsheet.
Capital allowances can be claimed on your Furnished Holiday Let, including your furniture, fixtures & fittings. If you kit your FHL out to the highest possible standard throughout (in turn increasing your potential income) all this can be deducted from your pre-tax profits.
You can find more information on capital allowances on the HS252 Helpsheet.
Income from a Furnished Holiday Let counts as ‘relevant earnings’ which, as a result, means you can make tax-advantaged contributions into your pension.
HMRC can provide more details on this on their HS253 Helpsheet
If you sell your property, you are able to claim Capital Gains Tax relief, which are unavailable to long-term lets. These include:
If you share ownership of your FHL with a partner or spouse, you can split the profit however you like for tax purposes, regardless of how the ownership of the property is split.
Any self-catering accommodation that is available to let for 140 days or more per year is subject to Business Rate tax. As FHL’s must be let for at least 210 days in a year, they automatically fall into this category. You may, however, be able to claim Small Business Rate Relief which will reduce the amount of council tax you need to pay. If your property’s rateable value is less than £15,000 you will be eligible for Small Business Rate Relief – you can calculate your property’s rateable value online with HMRC.
If the turnover on your FHL exceeds the VAT threshold, you will need to become VAT registered. Currently, the threshold is set at around £7,000 per month, which most holiday lets are unlikely to achieve unless it’s a large house or high end, luxury property. This means you’ll most likely have to own more than one holiday let before VAT becomes something to think about.
Your Furnished Holiday Let is treated in a similar way to that of a business when it comes to expenses. This means you can offset expenses against your revenue, as long as they are:
a) Claimed against commercial use only. If you use your property for private use, you will need to calculate what percentage of the expense is commercial.
b) Are not capital. For example, one-off payments for the purchase or construction of the property, or for its fixtures (capital allowances could cover these expenses).
Examples of allowable expenses could be:
Check out HMRC’s handy Guide on Furnished Holiday Lettings (2020), or give your local Lakes Cottage Holidays team a call on 017687 74060 for more information on holiday letting.