What is the Let Property Campaign?

The Let Property Campaign (LPC) is an initiative aimed at landlords who have undeclared rental income. This campaign provides an opportunity for landlords to bring their tax affairs up to date if they have not correctly reported their rental earnings or if they have previously failed to declare this income at all.

Lets start working together

Complete the below form to receive a free Worldwide Disclosure Facility? consultation with our HMRC investigation specialist.

Get the help you need today.
Call 0121 2853545 or complete the below form.

How will HMRC find out if I have not reported my property income right?

HMRC have a wealth of information that is shared with them from a variety of organisations. This information is extracted and clashed with internal data to identify taxpayers where they would expect property income to be declared but where it has not been.

The typical sources of data include Land Registry, deposit protection schemes, letting agents, financial institutions etc. This data would be pulled together in HMRC’s internal ‘Connect’ system which would allow them to highlight potential risks.

When HMRC identify a taxpayer that they believe should have reported property income but hasn’t they will either open up a compliance check, or issue a nudge letter, asking the taxpayer to check the position.

I have received a nudge letter, what should I do?

If you have received a nudge letter you should not ignore it, even if you are confident that your tax affairs with HMRC are accurate and up to date. Failure to respond to the nudge letter correctly by assuming everything is correct can lead to penalties if it is found there are omissions and so it is recommended that you engage a specialist to determine the correct position. If a disclosure is required Resolve Tax can assist in the preparation of this to ensure it is complete and accurate, mitigating penalties and limiting the number of years to disclosure where applicable.

If you haven’t received a nudge letter but think you may still need to make a disclosure, it is beneficial to be proactive as an unprompted disclosure attracts lower penalties. If you are unsure if this applies to you, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Why Resolve Tax?

We have years of experience in dealing with the most serious and complex tax investigations and disclosures as , including Code of Practice 9 enquiries.

Resolve Tax is made up of ex-HMRC inspectors, who understand HMRC’s processes in detail. We can easily identify the most effective way to deal with a COP9 enquiry, and know how to navigate through them in the most effective way possible.

I want to make a disclosure, what do I need to do?

The first stage, regardless of whether the disclosure is voluntary or prompted, is to register your intention to make a disclosure. If you’ve received a nudge letter this should typically be done within 30 days of the date of that letter.

If you have not received a nudge letter but know that you need to make a disclosure, it is important to act quickly to ensure your position of ‘unprompted’ is protected (which attracts lower penalty rates).

Once the disclosure has been registered, HMRC will write out to confirm this and provide a Disclosure Reference Number (DRN). From this date, you will have 90 days to prepare and submit the disclosure, which must include the tax due, as well as interest and penalties.

HMRC expect payment of the liabilities to be made at the same time as the submission. If this is likely to cause difficulties, HMRC should be informed up front, and a request for a payment arrangement agreed.

How far can HMRC go back?

The number of years that HMRC can go back will depend on a variety of factors, with the maximum being 20 years. This can be reduced depending on behaviour and whether returns have been previously filed with HMRC.

Where returns have been filed but the inaccuracies are not a result of deliberate behaviour, HMRC can go back either 4 or 6 years depending on whether reasonable care was taken or not. Where tax returns have not been filed, HMRC can typically go back 20 years even where the behaviour is not deliberate, however, this can be reduced to 4 years if a reasonable excuse exists.

Will I be charged a penalty?

Where a taxpayer has not reported their income correctly, HMRC will also consider whether a penalty applies.
Penalties are always tax geared, however, where it can be demonstrated that the inaccuracy arose despite taking reasonable care, then no penalty will be due. HMRC will also not charge a penalty where it can be established that there was a ‘reasonable excuse’ for the failure to report the property income correctly.