Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Most Holiday Let Owners Haven't Claimed This Tax Relief

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Most Holiday Let Owners Haven't Claimed This Tax Relief · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

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  Tax is one of those things most holiday let owners avoid until
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  it costs them money. And in 2026, the rules are
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  changing, the pressure is increasing, and the margin for
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  error is smaller than ever. In this episode of Host Planet
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  Bite Size, powered by Host Fully, I'm joined by Matt
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  Jeffrey from Seal Tax. He's going to share 5 essential
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  tax tips that every holiday let owner needs to know this year.
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  Let's get straight into it, Matt.
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  Thank you for joining us on host planet Bite Size.
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  You've got 5 tax tips for holiday let owners, so take it
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  away with tip #1. Thanks James.
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  Always good to be part of the Host Planet podcast.
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  And yet today we've got some tax 5 top tax tips.
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  It's quite difficult with awful to say that.
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  So #1 We'll start off with making tax digital.
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  Now that's become applicable now from 6th of April that's just
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  passed. And those with rental income or
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  you know, over 50,000 lbs or self-employed income, but for
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  holiday let owners it's rental income over 50,000 lbs.
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  So I think my main tip there really was the, you know, don't
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  wait, even if it's not applicable to you now, don't
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  wait for it to be applicable. You know, get yourself ready for
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  it now or during this year. You can even start making the
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  submissions. Get yourself to practice before
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  you actually, you know, you need to be compliant.
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  So test the water work, find out what works for you, find out
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  what the right software would be for you as well.
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  At the end of the day, it's coming for everybody.
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  Whilst you know it's been phased in, ultimately everybody's going
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  to need to do it. So my first tip is to be
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  prepared for making tax digital. So start using the right
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  softwares or whether that's a, you know, a full accounting
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  software or a bridging software. And the other thing I wanted to
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  mention on making tax digital as well is that there are
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  exemptions. And so if you, if there's a
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  reason why you think you can't, you're making tax digital, then
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  you can apply for an exemption. And we have had quite a few
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  clients who let's just say are are of an older generation and
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  don't use technology or don't like using technology, maybe
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  they've only got a couple of years left of of of of rental
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  income and et cetera. And they successfully applied
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  for exemptions. So if you Google HMRC make its
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  tax digital exemptions, have a read through them, see if any of
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  them apply to you. And if they do, then then apply
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  for the for the exemption. And that will mean then that you
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  just continue to operate as you did previously by filling in
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  your year end tax returns. So that's my first tip.
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  Make this tax digital. Either get ready for it because
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  it's coming, or if you're not, if it doesn't apply to you or
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  you don't want it to apply to you for those reasons, then
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  apply for an exemption now. Couple of questions then I'm
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  sure there'll be some people listening, thinking, making tax
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  digital. What's that?
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  So explain what it is. And then for those people out
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  there who use an accountant, is this something that your
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  accountant would take care of? OK.
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  So first of all, making Tax Digital is basically a new
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  initiative from HMRC where they want all taxpayers in the UK
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  eventually to be submitting their records digitally via you
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  know an accredited software to HMRC on a quarterly basis.
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  And So what that means is that each quarter you will press a
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  button on the software that you're using, whether that's one
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  of the sort of headline providers, like 0 QuickBooks
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  free agent, etcetera, or, you know, some of the smaller
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  providers or, or what's called a bridging software, which is
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  where you use an Excel based program and that has tech in it
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  that allows you to, to press a button and, and submit those
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  figures to HMRC that they're not audited at the at the end of the
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  year, you still do a final submission to which you can then
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  make adjustments to the figures that that you've submitted if
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  there's, you know, reasons to do that.
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  So yeah, essentially it's getting people away from paper
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  and spreadsheets onto, you know, software that that enables HMRC
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  to keep a good eye on us, I suppose.
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  And then for those people who use an accountant for for all
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  the tax things, whether it's the business self-assessment like I
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  do, is that something your accountant will will deal with?
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  I I think it really depends from from firm the firm.
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  Now, my advice is that you, you do it yourself because you're
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  only going to incur additional costs.
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  You still need your accountant to do your year end and you
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  probably want your accountant to help you get set up on the
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  software. But you know, I've spoken to
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  lots of accountants and there's, you know, they've got various
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  different, you know, I think most accounts preferences is
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  that, that, that the client will, will do a quarterly
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  submission themselves and then at the year end, they will audit
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  their submissions and, and do their tax return as normal.
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  So, but you know, I've spoken to people who don't want to have
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  that responsibility and want to pass on to their accountant, but
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  you know, that's going to come with additional costs.
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  So, you know, my advice is to be able to try and do it yourself,
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  but you know, ultimately your accountant can do it, but I
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  don't suspect they'll do it for free.
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  I I suspect they won't and just remind us then from when does
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  this have to happen? When do you have to make sure
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  that you're ready for this? Yeah.
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  So that, that's good. That's a good point to raise
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  actually, James. So even if you are within the
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  boundaries to, to be part of making taxes or for tax year
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  2627, which started on the 6th of April, the 1st submission
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  would be in July. So after your first quarter, So
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  the, I forget the exact dates that you need to do it, which
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  probably brings me to a good point that there is a, a really
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  detailed guide to making tax digital within Zeals tax
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  resource hub. We'll, we'll talk about that a
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  bit more towards the end of the of this podcast.
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  But yes, you know, all the dates and when you need to do
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  everything and whatnot is within that, within that guide.
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  So, you know, we've even trialled different softwares and
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  given our feedback on them. What's good, what's bad.
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  So yeah, get to download the MTD guide and that will, you know,
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  answer a lot of the questions that that that your viewers will
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  have. Excellent, and we'll put all
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  those links in the show notes so people can quickly find it.
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  All right then, Matt. So tip #2.
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  Yeah, OK, tip #2 you know, those that have worked a deal in the
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  past, you know, we're always banging the drum about capped
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  allowances and making sure that you've claimed all your capped
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  allowances. So there is still a window of
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  opportunity to identify any missed claims for capped
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  allowances and that deadline for individuals.
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  So if you own your property in your own personal name or, or
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  you know, junk you with other people, that deadline will be
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  the 31st of January. And that applies to owners that
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  purchased their property or carried out refurbishments or
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  built their property before April 2025.
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  So if you started your short term net business before April
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  2025, even if that was 10 or 15 years ago, you need to make sure
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  that you've claimed all your capital allowances.
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  This the the benefit of them is, is huge.
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  You could be sitting on thousands of pounds of tax
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  savings. Again, you know, look at the
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  guard within the resource hub. We'll explain more about it.
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  Limited companies. If you're probably a limited
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  company, you may have a little bit longer to make your claim.
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  It will depend on the company year end, but all the same rules
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  apply. Need to start your business
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  before April 2025. So really important.
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  If you don't claim them by these deadlines, they'll be lost
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  forever and you'll pay more tax as a result of it.
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  If you've got long term let's, now is the time to read it.
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  So even if you you're not profitable on your short term
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  let, but your long term let's you're paying tax on them, then
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  you can use these capital allowances against your long
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  term let's as well. So, you know, really even more
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  of a call to action and a reason for for identifying your capital
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  announces. We, we cannot stress this more,
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  can we? You know, if, if you haven't
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  made a call or sent an e-mail to zeal, make sure you do it
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  because all likelihood, if you've been running holiday
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  let's for a few years, there's going to be significant tax
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  savings here. And I think as well don't think
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  that you might have already made these savings or they might have
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  already been accounted for. Don't assume because I know all
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  likelihood they haven't been. And I think, I think as well,
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  Matt, it's probably worth pointing out that it's quite a
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  small number of holiday let's from a percentage point of view
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  or a small number of owners that have actually claimed the
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  capital allowances. There's a lot of people out
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  there who haven't. Yeah, I I totally agree.
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  So, you know, picking up on a company of points there.
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  The reason why, you know, if you've got an accountant, they
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  probably have claims and cap allowances for you for things
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  like your furniture, furnishings, hot tubs, etcetera.
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  But there is an extra level of cap allowances that that you,
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  your accountant can't actually claim for you.
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  You need quantity surveyors and cap allowances specialists like
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  zeal to be able to identify and claim those those for you.
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  So, yeah, you know, it's we probably, well, I think last
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  year, I haven't got all the figures in front of me, but it
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  was over 100,000,000 lbs of unclaimed cap allowances that we
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  identified. And you know, I'd still say 70
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  or 80% of owners out there are still unaware that they've got
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  cap allowances unclaimed. So yeah, you know, it's really
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  important and you know, there's a really short window now that
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  to make sure that you claim your cap allowances.
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  So yeah, don't wait. Do it as soon as possible.
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  Time is of the essence. There'll be a bunch of links in
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  the show notes to help you and and the number as well to call
• 9:42
  Matt and the team. OK, then quick pause.
• 9:44
  This series is powered by Hostfully if you want to run a
• 9:48
  more professional short term rental business.
• 9:50
  Housefully gives you everything in one place, from property
• 9:53
  management software to digital guidebooks that enhance your
• 9:56
  guest experience. Scan the QR code on screen if
• 10:00
  you're watching on YouTube or hit the link in the show notes
• 10:03
  to find out more. House Planet listeners have
• 10:05
  access to two special offers, $500 off onboarding for the
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  property management software and 30% off digital guidebooks for
• 10:13
  life. There's also a link in the show
• 10:15
  notes to book a demo with Frank Bosey, who's a big friend of our
• 10:19
  show. All right, back to it.
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  What's tip #3 Matt? Tip #3 Well, so we know that
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  your tax return can be submitted from April, between April 2026
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  and January 2027. Our tip is to, to do your tax
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  return early this year. So even though you've got until
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  the end of January, don't leave it till the last minute.
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  Now that's not because, you know, I don't want to be truly
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  busy in January. It's because the, the, this is
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  the, the tax return that you'll be submitting in 2526.
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  The one from last year, it's the first year under the new rules.
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  So you need to make sure that you're giving yourself plenty of
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  time to ensure that one, you've got doing everything right and
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  two, if you've got more tax to pay because of the new rules,
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  it'll give you more time to plan and, and save that money to be
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  paid in January 2027. The other reason we also invite
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  people to submit the taxes early is that if you've got a payment
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  to make in July and perhaps 2526 wasn't as profitable as 2425,
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  then by submitting your tax in before the 31st of July, you can
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  avoid making potentially avoid making that payment.
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  So there's lots of good reasons to, you know, to be prepared and
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  do things, do things early any year that that you do your tax
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  turn. But I think this year,
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  particularly because of all the changes, you know, do it early
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  so that you know where you are. And then if you need to take
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  more formal advice, then you know, you can, you've got plenty
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  of time to reach out. You will, you know, if you leave
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  it till December, January, your accountants, people like terms
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  like zeal, we're not going to have the time to sort of take on
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  new clients and to be able to answer lots of questions in in
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  that busy period. So yeah, try and do it as soon
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  as possible. Should be no reason.
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  You don't have to submit it. You can just draft it.
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  You don't have to submit it, but encourage everyone to sort of do
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  it a little bit earlier than they would do previously.
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  Good advice. It's a very easy thing to put
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  off. Tip 4 then.
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  Yeah. OK.
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  So tip 4 is around business rates.
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  We all know that there's been a big flurry of of people trying
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  to move their properties from council tax to business rates
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  because of the council tax premiums.
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  So the first thing that we wanted sort of our tip is to if
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  you need to change then act now, act as soon as possible because
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  there is a quite a big backlog of applications.
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  So you know, don't delay, get your application in as soon as
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  possible. But the other tip is more of an
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  awareness and that is that there is a new ratings list being
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  released anytime now. And what that is, is it will
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  determine how much business rates you pay.
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  Now a lot of short term let owners get the advantage of
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  small business rates relief. In England it means that if your
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  rateable value is 12 and a half, £1000 or less, you don't have to
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  pay any business rates. In Wales it's 6000 now with the
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  new ratings list, the likelihood is that your ratable value is
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  going to increase. So for some it might mean that
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  it pushed in into over your small business rates relief
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  limit and so you might start paying some business rates for
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  others. I would hope for the majority of
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  people the increase shouldn't have any impact and should keep
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  them still within small business rates relief.
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  But if, if it does mean that, you know, when you get your new
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  rating through that you're going to pay more business rates, then
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  please be aware that you can challenge the business rating
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  because often they are incorrect and based on wrong information.
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  So yeah, it's just more of an awareness point really around,
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  you know, the new ratings letters coming in and, and the
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  backlog of applications with the, with the VOA. 1 tip that I
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  suppose could give you around that is that if you're still
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  having to pay double council tax whilst you're awaiting your
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  business rates application to be processed, which believe or not
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  is can be around a 12 month period.
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  Then you, you know, we've had clients have had some success in
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  contacting the council explaining the financial
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  hardship there's causing them having to wait and having to pay
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  double council tax. And then they've had the council
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  tax sort of delay the collection whilst they're waiting for the
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  VOA to, to process the application.
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  That's helped a lot of people financially with cash flow.
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  So something to bear in mind. Yeah, definitely.
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  Yeah. Contact the council, contact
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  your local representatives. A little bit of pressure can
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  help here and then. If you mention the fact that you
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  know that the the delay is causing you financial hardship
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  and you know, they do have to act on that.
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  So yeah, it's been a lot of comments been successful in, you
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  know, in, in managing that cash flow burden.
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  Definitely. OK, then Matt tip #5.
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  Yeah, Tipton 5 is, is, is is a real simple one and we've
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  mentioned it already, but make use of Zeals tax resource hub.
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  So any listeners, host planet James is going to, we'll put the
• 15:09
  QR COBA seal, have a whole host of resources for tax within a
• 15:14
  hub, anything from guys to making tax digital to what tax
• 15:19
  deductible expenses you can claim to how you apply for
• 15:22
  business rates, you know, whether or not your structure,
• 15:25
  your business is structured correctly, different options,
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  etcetera. So yeah, make use of the
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  resource hub. All the information is there in
• 15:33
  one place for you. You know, as I said, you know,
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  getting to that, there's loads and loads of free information
• 15:39
  there for you. Yeah, it's really, really
• 15:41
  helpful. And as Matt said, if you watch
• 15:43
  it on YouTube, we'll put AQR code on screen now so that you
• 15:47
  can scan. We'll also put some links in the
• 15:49
  show notes. Matt, just before you go, then
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  give us the lowdown on Zeal and where people can go to find out
• 15:54
  more information. Yeah, our our website is
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  www.gozeal.co.uk. So that's GO zel.co.uk.
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  But you know, hopefully people are aware of us and you're even
• 16:08
  if you're, you know, if you're a management company and you've
• 16:12
  got or you've got connections to owners in the sector, you know,
• 16:16
  it's really important that you get the message about capital
• 16:18
  allowances across to them. So, you know, if you'd like to
• 16:21
  work with or partner with Zeal as well, please do get in
• 16:24
  contact. You can e-mail me direct at
• 16:26
  matt@gozeal.co.uk or hello at gozeal.co.uk.
• 16:32
  We'd love to speak to you, and you know we can help you help
• 16:34
  your owners. Absolutely, and we can't stress
• 16:37
  this enough. If you haven't applied for your
• 16:39
  capital allowances, get on with it ASAP.
• 16:42
  Matt, it's been a pleasure as ever.
• 16:44
  Thanks for joining us on host Planet Bite Size.
• 16:46
  Thanks James. Good luck to you soon.
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  All right, over to you. Do you feel confident about your
• 16:51
  tax setup right now or is it something you've been putting
• 16:55
  off? Drop your thoughts in the
• 16:56
  comments. We read every single one.
• 16:59
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