Just Do It: Tax
Article 2
Colin Davison
Colin Davison, property accountant specialising in tax and business support for property investors has an interesting background. To contact Colin about any tax related issues email colin.davison@justdoproperty.com Resources |
2010/11 Tax Busting Checklist
Colin Davison from Cranleys Property Tax Advisors has put together a very comprehensive 2010/11 Tax Busting Checklist. Below is his detailed section for Property and Loans. Has you accountant mentioned these points to you?
You can download the full 2010/11 checklist covering all the following areas:
- Business Planning
- Business planning, especially if you have a Limited Company
- Employees – remember that if you are a director of your own limited company that this includes you.
- Benefits in Kind
- Personal Planning
- Investments
- Property and loans
- VAT
- Administration
Property and loans |
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| 81 | Consider buying your next buy-to-let property in the joint names of yourself and your spouse/civil partner as tenants-in-common. The rental income can then be divided between you according to the proportion of the property you each own, e.g. 20%: 80%, giving the lower earning partner a bigger share, so the rents may be taxed at the lower income tax rates. | Yes | No | N/A |
| 82 | If you are moving home consider letting your old home instead of selling it. When you do sell that property in a few years time, most of the gain will be protected from capital gains tax. | Yes | No | N/A |
| 83 | If you are buying a house watch out for the valuation points at which stamp duty land tax (SDLT) steps up a level to be applied to the whole transaction. For example when buying a house for £125,000 the purchaser pays no SDLT (£250,000 for first time buyers), but if the house is sold for just £1 more the purchaser must pay SDLT of £1250. The other critical valuation points are £250,000 and £500,000. Try to negotiate down the price below these thresholds by offering to buy any extras such as garden furniture or curtains in a separate deal. | Yes | No | N/A |
| 84 | If you rent a room out in your own home, the first £4,250 of rental income you receive each year is free of tax. | Yes | No | N/A |
| 85 | If you let out furnished property out you can claim 10% of the rent as an allowance for wear and tear on the furnishings. | Yes | No | N/A |
| 86 | When you are installing insulation of almost any type in your let residential properties, check the total cost per property. You can claim a special tax allowance of up to £1,500 per property to cover these costs, but any excess will not get tax relief. | |||
| 87 | If you are buying a property to let out, it can often make sense to borrow the money to finance the property, even if you don’t need to, as you get tax relief on the loan interest. You may then have an alternative use for the money. | Yes | No | N/A |
To download the full document please enter the email below:
For more information please call Colin Davison, Cranleys Property Tax Advisors, Winton House Basingstoke RG21 8EN on 01256 830000 or email colin.davison@cranleys.co.uk Call today for a free telephone discussion.
If you would like to ask Colin a question click here
