Has everyone been good and declared their Airbnb earnings to HMRC in the UK?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

I see Airbnb have been charged additional taxes in the UK and also agreed to share with HMRC earnings data for hosts in the tax years 2017-18 and 2018-19.

I hope everyone has declared their earnings - If not it may be time to do so even though there will be a late fine payable.

[Alan96]

Due to other matters It completly passed me by until I recived the email from Airbnb last week.

I did some initial sums and my Taxes are not significant but the fees interest penalties applied are horrendous. I logged my intention to declare but the calculations were somewhat fiddly so in my panic I contacted Tax Scouts as highlighted by Airbnb. That was Wednesday, I'm still in near panic mode and attempts to contact this firm for a conversation are proving disappointing. 

I don't actually know what their plan of action would be, they don't do appeals

Anyone else using them ?

Alan

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alan96 I would ring the tax office that deals with your personal taxes and ask them what the best way forward is. I think they tend to be helpful to those who self declare rather than those they catch.

[Alan96]

Hello. I went in to my account and looked up the relevant year.

From there I was able to email saying my issue.

Thx 

[Yadira22]

@Alan96 just a small fyi- there is a tiny reporting bug in the annual sales revenue reporting total, all subtotals are correct. It seems to undercalculate it, please be sure to check beforehand. Good luck- thanks. 

[Yadira22]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Thanks

Links below for some information for anyone interested

https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/1/tax-tips-for-those-who-rent-out-properties-or-r...

https://www.gov.uk/undeclared-income

Thanks 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alan96 The second link from @Yadira22 is very helpful and will hopefully be a pragmatic solution for you. I don't think there is any great panic as HMRC works at snails pace in the best of times.

[Helen3]

People are hardly going to admit on a public forum that they’ve been committing tax fraud by not declaring their STR income are they 😁😁😁😢😢 @Mike-And-Jane0 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Helen3 Probably not but at least they will have been warned that Airbnb have supplied HMRC with all their earnings data and hence can declare before they get caught.

[Helen3]

Why would you want to warn tax fraudsters...rather bizarre  @Mike-And-Jane0 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Self-righteousness rears its ugly head in many ways @Helen3 

[Helen3]

How is it self-righteous to pay our taxes - it pays for our roads, schools, health, libraries, child protection, social houses, police, ambulance, army, navy, parks and open spaces and so much more. @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Do I think it’s unfair that individuals and corporations indulge in tax dodging while the rest of us pay - absolutely.

if they didn’t we could have better public services.

These tax fraudsters are often the first to complain about the state of public services. 

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Yes, I've declared every penny, right from day 1. I ignore the breakdowns that Airbnb provides on the system and just highlight the payments on my bank statements before sending them to my accountant.

At the same time, as I declare this rental income there are quite a lot of things that can reasonably be claimed as expenses. I am able to expense a portion of utility bills and interest payments on the mortgage, cleaning fees and cleaning products. 

Later down the line, I started also expensing some of the laundry products and stuff like new linen and towels. I haven't bothered with things like tea, coffee, sugar etc. but probably should as I do provide that stuff and more to guests. Repairs not considered wear and tear can also be expensed, but not renovations.

More suggestions for stuff to expense would be appreciated! I'm happy to pay my taxes, but don't want to be out of pocket either. It's sometimes easy to forget what hosting costs!

[Jen89]

I think you are supposed to declare the gross amount and then claim back the AirBnB fees as an expense against your earnings.  Your gross earnings will be higher but it will all level out in the final figure once expenses are taken into account. 

I think AirBnB totals show the gross amount and I expect that is the figure they will send to HMRC, so there may be a discrepancy.

[Huma0]

@Jen89 

Yes, my accountant sees the gross earnings on my bank statements. The expenses are calculated separately. Therefore there shouldn't be any discrepancies, unless by gross amount you mean the payout including Airbnb host fees?