Rental property accountants in Central London

A correct rental schedule starts with the legal owner, beneficial ownership, property use and tax year. We reconcile rent from agents, tenants and booking platforms, then review repairs, insurance, service charges, ground rent, agent fees, safety costs, replacement domestic items, utilities paid by the landlord and finance costs. Capital improvements, private costs and deposits are treated separately rather than being deducted automatically.

The finished schedule supports the SA105 property pages or, for a property company, the statutory accounts and Corporation Tax return. It also creates a clean record of losses and acquisition or improvement costs that may matter when the property is sold.

Keep tenancy agreements, completion statements, annual letting-agent summaries, bank statements, mortgage interest certificates, service-charge and ground-rent demands, insurance, repairs invoices, safety certificates, licences, legal fees and evidence of periods when the property was vacant or used privately. Joint owners should also retain documents supporting their ownership shares. For overseas property, keep local tax returns, tax-paid certificates and statements in the original currency.

An individual landlord normally reports the property business through Self Assessment, while a limited company files statutory accounts and a CT600. Jointly owned property is not automatically divided in whatever ratio the owners prefer, and furnished accommodation, HMOs, short stays, rent-a-room arrangements and non-resident ownership can each introduce different evidence or filing requirements. We identify the reporting entity and ownership position before calculating the taxable result.

Current and recent rental income may belong on an outstanding return or a return that can still be amended. Older undeclared income may require the Let Property Campaign, while overseas rent or assets may bring the Worldwide Disclosure Facility into scope. If HMRC has written first, the letter, deadline and information HMRC requested must be reviewed before choosing a route. We do not treat every landlord problem as the same disclosure.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts in phases based on qualifying gross self-employment and property income. Landlords above the applicable threshold will need compatible digital records, quarterly updates and a year-end tax process. We review the threshold, ownership split and software before recommending a setup, so a landlord does not buy a system that fails to match the actual property records.