UK Landlord Forum / Life

Long story but my situation has changed a lot over last couple of years.  In the last year I have had to work full time and received £40k gross in PAYE salary.  With changes to landlord taxation etc, the mortgages on my 2 rentals are barely taken into account and it looks like I have a rental income of £16k ish this tax year.  This has pushed me into the higher tax bracket, which I am sure grates on a lot of us.  Is there anything I can do to drastically reduce my rental income for the current tax year?  Someone gave me bad advice by tellling me to put it in a personal pension as it was a business expenses, but I'm a sole trader and think it is only tax deductible for LTDs, so I didn't do it.

I'm thinking of repairs/renovations to the properties.  I've got about £10k saved up for this, but neither property is in dire straits, so would really welcome any other ideas. 

Thanks for your time

Quote from: LCW on March 17, 2021, 09:10:13 PMIs there anything I can do to drastically reduce my rental income for the current tax year?

Charge less rent?

Seems like you're asking the wrong question.

Alternatively, charge more rent... and keep more yourself.

Seriously - your rental income is what it is. That's not the amount you're looking to inflate / deflate / affect.

Quote from: LCW on March 17, 2021, 09:10:13 PM
Someone gave me bad advice...

Maybe pay for some good advice from a chartered independent financial advisor?

Could be well worth the fees given that you are now a higher rate tax payer and your situation has/is changing over time.

Quote from: LCW on March 17, 2021, 09:10:13 PM
Someone gave me bad advice by tellling me to put it in a personal pension

That's not bad advice from a tax point of view. You'll get tax relief on whatever you put into a personal pension (up to a certain limit which you're not likely to be anywhere near). Your pension provider applies the 20% tax relief directly but you'll get the remainder back via your tax return.

Hi.  Thanks everyone for reading and even bigger thanks to those who have replied.  Not sure what I'll do, but you've given me things to think about.