HM Revenue and Customs have increased their investigation into the number of people failing to declare their income from rental properties. The Government orders people to pay double the tax owed if they have failed to declare any overseas income. According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, tax on income from rental properties overseas has increased by 17 percent as the government continues to crackdown on people ignoring the law.
The number of British taxpayers declaring an income from an overseas property rose by 3,000 between 2016 to 2019 to 81,000 last year.
Most people are liable to pay UK income tax on any income earned from renting out their foreign property to tourists or long-term tenants, capital gains tax on any profits when you sell it and inheritance tax when you die.
Matthew Grief from the accountancy firm which submitted the FOI, Moore, said: “We expect the value of income declared will be even higher this year as HMRC has been really turning up the heat on overseas landlords and there is no sign activity in this area will slow down soon.”
