Warning - Christmas is Coming and it will soon be Self Assessment Deadline day...

Before the stresses of Christmas preparation kicks in and we think about celebrating the arrival of 2017 now is a good time to get your figures in order to prepare for submission of your online tax returns.

None of us can wait to see how America gets on with Trump and how exiting the EU will impact our daily lives, we should also prepare our finances for the looming deadline.

Every person receiving an income from a property must complete a tax return – even if they believe there is no tax to pay.

The deadline for submitting an online Tax return for the year ending 5th April 2016 is the 31st January 2017. Remember you should allow 20 days to register to file a return online if you are doing so for the first time.

Every landlord must submit a self assessment Tax return. You must normally pay income tax on any profit from renting out property you own, your profit is the sum left once you’ve added together your rental income and deducted any allowable expenses.

 If you are unsure of what you should be claiming as allowable expenses we would advise you to discuss this with a local firm of accountants or a financial advisor as each person’s tax liability will be specific to their circumstances.

In my experience of assisting landlord’s in completing these forms they are really straight forward to fill in. They ask for the annual income for rental properties and the expenses incurred –  so my advice would be to prepare now and get all the figures you need for the period April 2015 to April 2016.

 If you have not kept copies of all your monthly statements and invoices for costs incurred during the year in a neatly filed folder then you are not alone! Contact your agent and they should be able to email you a breakdown of the incoming and outgoing payments of each property.

 We always have a flurry of enquiries mid January as people start their calculations. So be prepared and get together the information now – then you will have something else to celebrate completing this year!

 If you would like to discuss anything mentioned above or to do with a property investment please give me a call or pop into see me on Burton Street.   Charlotte Baker   01664 569700