Recent proposals apparently put forward by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are demanding that UK lettings agents disclose to the tax man, the names and addresses of all the landlords on their books, a report on Telegraph.co.uk has said.
Until now, lettings agents have only been required to reveal the names and contact details of landlords who use them for the purpose of rental payments. Now under the new proposals, all landlords will be identified including those who have at any time paid an agent a fee for finding them a new tenant. This will make it easier for HMRC to keep track of buy-to-let investors who have so far managed to evade tax on income, including rent and capital gains, derived from property they have sold.
CEO of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) Peter Bolton King said: ?There are vast numbers of landlords that use an agent to find a tenant. One assumes that all landlords complete their tax returns, but this has the potential to catch out landlords who are trying to avoid tax.? He also commented that the proposal, while beneficial to the tax man, would involve a lot more work for lettings agents.
This follows on from a scheme announced in May to set up a national register of landlords at a ?50 administration fee to landlords to cover set-up costs. The reason is to identify and eliminate unscrupulous landlords who neglect vulnerable tenants and give the buy-to-let sector a bad name. However, many experts have voiced their opposition to this measure on the grounds that it would be of ?no benefit to tenants or landlords? and would infringe privacy.
