Let Property Campaign collects £5,000 per taxpayer

A total of £50m has been brought in by the ongoing HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) let property campaign since its launch in September 2013.

In our let property campaign article in March 2014, we advised that HMRC were targeting £550m which they believed was being under-declared so the actual collection falls some way short of the expected tax haul. It is also far less than their more successful campaign that targeted offshore savings and netted in excess of £500m.

The let property campaign has involved HMRC contacting over 80,000 landlords and resulted in over 50,000 using the online educational products. However, to date just over 10,000 have come forward to disclose an underpayment of tax.

With no end date announced for the campaign HMRC will leave it open for the time being but are likely to follow it up in due course with checks of submitted tax returns and by pursuing landlords who they believe are not declaring all income.

Previous campaigns have targeted plumbers, medical professionals, electricians, online traders and solicitors amongst others. For HMRC the campaigns are a relatively low cost, straightforward way to collect revenue that may not otherwise be declared. For those already paying tax at a level below what they should, along with others who aren’t declaring the income the incentive comes in the form of reduced penalties and interest.

If you own a property that you are currently letting out or have done so in the past please get in touch and we will guide you through the process of bringing your affairs up to date.