Accidental landlord – Can I do the annual accounting myself?

Accidental landlord – Can I do the annual accounting myself?

16:03 PM, 1st June 2021, About 4 years ago 13

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Hi, We recently acquired a flat (no mortgage) – the flats we wanted do not come on the market very often, so we have bought it around 5 years before we are ready to exit London and move into it. We have no intention of buying more properties. So I am an Accidental landlord.

We have a local letting agent and the flat is now being let at market rates.

I am not an accountant but have some familiarity with accounting, tax returns and capital gains. I run my own little self-trading micro-business (more a service to others than a source of income).

So my mind turns to P&L accounting and end of year tax returns for the rental income? Any views on the following:-

1) I can’t see anything complicated in doing the rental property accounting and tax return myself – The flat has a good managing agent (+£) and with a letting agent, the cash accounting is simple. So I can skip having a professional accountant?

2) The letting agent wants to charge me around £150 for an annual tax statement. Beyond “convenience”, I can’t see this would provide anything that is not on the monthly statements – hence MS Excel can easily create the annual P&L for tax purposes. Worth having the letting agent tax statement?

3) Should I run the rental business (for the 1 property) as wholly separate from my existing micro-business, or roll them together? They do not naturally fit together.

Our objective is to have the flat pay its costs, provide a small income, and we pay all necessary taxes for the few years that it will be rented. We will then sell our house in London and move into the flat as our retirement home until we die or go into a care home (so managing capital gain/loss and IHT on this flat is not a priority for us)

Many thanks
Geoff


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alfo72

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7:12 AM, 5th June 2021, About 4 years ago

No reason not to and unless there is something complex about your single rental just follow the basic guides on HMRC.

I have had 3 properties over time and always filed myself. I am a CPA but nothing to do with tax

Pete England - PaTMa Property Management

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22:45 PM, 8th June 2021, About 3 years ago

The PaTMa software will help you manage your properties and generate your tax return figures for your self assessment. You do need to allocate your expenses to the right category and understand what can be claimed and what is a capital expenditure.
It's cloud based and really easy to use. It's free for 1st property. Happy to help out if you need help. We use it to monitor rents, record expense, create inventories , store documents, set reminders and add tasks. It even gives you a profit breakdown and will help you with your next property purchase.http://Www.patma.co.uk

Ian Butler

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13:28 PM, 22nd November 2022, About 2 years ago

While businesses are obligated by law to keep financial records, individuals are not, and failing to do so can be expensive from a financial and tax viewpoint. You might not notice if your credit card and bank account statements are inaccurate until it's too late to make repairs. Your credit score could be damaged if you miss a payment. You might have no idea how to set aside money for investing and saving. Or you can fail to consider expenses that could have tax advantages. So it makes sense to keep track of your personal finances.

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