View all articles
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has challenged government claims that landlords are rolling in cash. Figures obtained by Jim Shannon, DUP MP, clearly show that out of 1.9 million unincorporated landlords, 66% of landlords are liable for the basic rate of income tax, which suggests they are not ‘raking it in’. Only 4% of landlords are in the additional tax bracket, yet the government is keen to extract even more tax from all landlords.
*****Whoops! Looks like this is an old post that isn’t relevant any more :/ *****
*****Visit the blog home page for the most up to date news. *****
Increased Tax Burden
The main government argument for increasing the tax burden on landlords is that the playing field between them and homeowners is not level. However, the evidence suggests otherwise. Mel Stride, MP for the Treasury, has confirmed to the RLA that landlords pay more tax than homeowners. They are taxed on their rental income, they pay extra stamp duty when they sell a property, and they are also liable for capital gains tax on profits from the sale of a property. Homeowners don’t have to pay any of this, making it difficult to see what tax increases have to do with levelling the playing field.
Mortgage Interest Tax Relief
There is also the issue of mortgage interest relief. The Treasury has stated in the Q&A session that it believes around one in five landlords will be affected. What it doesn’t know is how many properties will be affected. Landlords will almost certainly have to raise rents on affected properties or even sell up. Either way, a tenant is affected.
The RLA wants the government to scrap the tax measures as they say it will negatively impact on the PRS.
