https://www.property118.com/call-for-council-tax-relief-on-empty-landlord-properties
Predictable that the NRLA would ask for this. All sorts of things wrong of course. Interestingly, many councils just don't bother trying to get a landlord to pay a few days council tax between tenancies. It makes sense as the cost of collection is not worth it in many cases but I wonder how much this costs councils? FOI request if I have time...
Thursday, 14 May 2020
Call for council tax relief on empty landlord properties
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7 comments:
Re void periods, when I was a BTL LL back in the day, the local council would send me a bill from the date the tenant left to the end of the year. I had to appeal against it, get it deferred until new tenant moved in, then I paid the correct amount for the void period.
It struck me as bureaucratic madness, why not just make me pay it all the time, it's up to me what I whether I "add it to the rent" (LOLZ).
It's utterly bonkers that a landowner can get away with paying zero or even negative tax (if they claim housing benefit). If you are a basic rate taxpayer or a corporate landlord, you can pay enough interest to not make a paper profit. You can even pay the interest to yourself to an offshore entity and nobody would know I guess?
M, re offshore interest, I have had this debate at work with live cases.
My view is, that interest is UK source interest so is taxable in the UK. Withholding tax is 20%, so it's not worth the hassle, it is better to just pay the 19% corporation tax on rental income.
Of course, a lot of people just pay interest gross and claim it as an expense. HMRC hardly ever seem to bother chasing the missing withholding tax :-(
"Interestingly, many councils just don't bother trying to get a landlord to pay a few days council tax between tenancies."
My council gives a council tax holiday of six months, but, as soon as my tenant moves out, they send me a double council tax bill for my "second home". This is despite the fact that the flat and my house are parts of the same building and have the same address. The first time this happened I was a little sarcastic, but I no longer bother, it's just a bot sending out the demands.
@Bayard do landowners give councils a 6 month holiday for services as a quid pro quo? I.e. during the holiday if squatters move in or a fire starts, should the owner provide for themselves?
The "second home" surcharge is as laughable as the single person's discount.
They are both over-occupying, so why the opposite treatment?
M, under-occupying, surely.
AFAICS, the surcharge is designed to put up the costs of owning a second home, therefore slightly reducing the would-be second home owner's buying power wrt a would-be main home owner. Local homes for local people.
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