Tax obligations for furnished lets – residential vs holiday

There are different tax reliefs and reductions available for Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) and longer-term furnished rental properties.

Establishing which category your property falls into can help you find out the specifics of your tax obligations.

What type of property do you own?

Defining if your property is a furnished residential let is simple.

If your residential property is either partially or fully furnished at the time that it was let out, then it is a furnished residential let.

However, defining your property as a FHL is more complex. For your property to be an FHL, it must be:

·        Furnished sufficiently for normal occupation

·        In the UK or European Economic Area (EEA)

·        Let to make a profit

·        Available for letting as an FHL at least 210 days out of the year

·        Let commercially for at least 105 days a year

·        Long-term lets over 31 continuous days don’t exceed 155 days of the year.

Whichever property type yours falls into, you must understand your tax obligations and available reliefs.

Furnished residential lets

There are limited tax reliefs available for furnished residential lets. Since 6 April 2020, Income Tax relief has been limited to the basic rate of Income Tax. They are also limited to the lowest mortgage interest, furnished let income, or your adjusted total income.

You may want to consider offering your property unfurnished, as there is no longer a ‘wear and tear allowance’ for landlords to deduct from their taxable earnings.

There is the ‘replacement of domestic items relief’, which allows you to claim certain items as expenses, as well as disposing of the old item.

Furnished Holiday Lets

Currently, FHL owners can enjoy significant tax benefits. However, the Furnished Holiday Let allowance is set to be abolished in April 2025, meaning that there will be fewer tax benefits for landlords.

Under the current regulations, FHL owners can benefit from:

·        Claiming up to £1 million of capital expenditure under the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)

·        Costs such as mortgage interest are fully deductible from rental income, lowering your taxable income

·        Business Asset Disposal Relief can replace GCT if their operations are classed as a business

·        Earnings from FHLs are considered earned, so are eligible for relief at the owner’s highest rate of Income Tax.

Unfortunately, FHLs will likely come under the same rules as residential holiday lets from next year. This means that there will be less tax benefits to owning a FHL instead of a residential rental property.

If you need advice with your property taxes, our team are here to help.

Get in touch today to discuss tax relief for your rental properties.