Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I post below a reply I made to a guy in the rental section of this site who (the usual story) was having great difficulty getting his deposit back from a landlord...I wish to pout forward my suggestion to him that he shops his landlord to HMRC for tax evasion to all on this forum who are living in rentals owned by private landlords...its probably not a very nice thing to do but I see it as a perfectly acceptable form of guerilla warfare against tax evading BTL scum... "My nephew had a problem like this, 9 weeks had passed since he moved out of a rental and no deposit (or even any kind of account for supposed deductions) had been returned. He simply emailed the agent to say that if he the matter was not resolved in 7 days he would (not to put too fine a point to it) pass the landlords details on to HMRC so that they could check if he was paying tax on his rental income. If you are letting is owned by a private individual the chances are that he is not paying tax on his rental income, so this approach may work for you. Actually, whilst I'm here, can I encourage all those reading who are letting from private landlords to shop them to HMRC...you can do it anonymously whilst still living in the property or just after you leave, all you need to do is to get the landlords name and address from your contract and call the HMRC tax evasion hotline on 0800 788 887. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulu Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I post below a reply I made to a guy in the rental section of this site who (the usual story) was having great difficulty getting his deposit back from a landlord...I wish to pout forward my suggestion to him that he shops his landlord to HMRC for tax evasion to all on this forum who are living in rentals owned by private landlords...its probably not a very nice thing to do but I see it as a perfectly acceptable form of guerilla warfare against tax evading BTL scum... "My nephew had a problem like this, 9 weeks had passed since he moved out of a rental and no deposit (or even any kind of account for supposed deductions) had been returned. He simply emailed the agent to say that if he the matter was not resolved in 7 days he would (not to put too fine a point to it) pass the landlords details on to HMRC so that they could check if he was paying tax on his rental income. If you are letting is owned by a private individual the chances are that he is not paying tax on his rental income, so this approach may work for you. Actually, whilst I'm here, can I encourage all those reading who are letting from private landlords to shop them to HMRC...you can do it anonymously whilst still living in the property or just after you leave, all you need to do is to get the landlords name and address from your contract and call the HMRC tax evasion hotline on 0800 788 887. " I hope he does this regardless of the repayment of the deposit. Everyone else has to pay tax so I see no reason why any BTL tossers think they might not have to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lets get it right Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I hope he does this regardless of the repayment of the deposit. Everyone else has to pay tax so I see no reason why any BTL tossers think they might not have to Indeed. You may well be doing the landlord a favour. He, no doubt, is not a deliberate evader of tax and it may be you help to prevent him from getting in trouble in case he accidentally forgets to declare his profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonriver Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Everyone else has to pay tax so I see no reason why any BTL tossers think they might not have to I wonder how widespread tax evasion is within the BTL'ers? Especially the reluctant landlord types. I suspect it is quite high, and I cannot understand why the government don't clamp down on it. Surely it would be simple for them to do so, by the use of data sharing from lenders, and/or letting agents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Surely all this BTL'ers evading the HMRC is old hat now since the introduction of the Rental Deposit Scheme? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 Surely all this BTL'ers evading the HMRC is old hat now since the introduction of the Rental Deposit Scheme? The so called Rental Deposit scheme is run by private companies so there no reason why (unless they chose to look) what goes on there would come to the attention of HMRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stop The Ride Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I post below a reply I made to a guy in the rental section of this site who (the usual story) was having great difficulty getting his deposit back from a landlord...I wish to pout forward my suggestion to him that he shops his landlord to HMRC for tax evasion to all on this forum who are living in rentals owned by private landlords...its probably not a very nice thing to do but I see it as a perfectly acceptable form of guerilla warfare against tax evading BTL scum... "My nephew had a problem like this, 9 weeks had passed since he moved out of a rental and no deposit (or even any kind of account for supposed deductions) had been returned. He simply emailed the agent to say that if he the matter was not resolved in 7 days he would (not to put too fine a point to it) pass the landlords details on to HMRC so that they could check if he was paying tax on his rental income. If you are letting is owned by a private individual the chances are that he is not paying tax on his rental income, so this approach may work for you. Actually, whilst I'm here, can I encourage all those reading who are letting from private landlords to shop them to HMRC...you can do it anonymously whilst still living in the property or just after you leave, all you need to do is to get the landlords name and address from your contract and call the HMRC tax evasion hotline on 0800 788 887. " I'm all for shopping LLs, but I wouldn't want to appear to be blackmailing one (hand me the money or else...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 (edited) I'm all for shopping LLs, but I wouldn't want to appear to be blackmailing one (hand me the money or else...) I think if they are transparently not paying you what they owe that blackmail is perfectly acceptable. I'm actually advocatring routine shopping of private landlords to HMRC wether they pay back depsits or not... like I said, a form of guerilla warfare. Edited September 29, 2010 by Lucifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injin Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I think if they are transparently not paying you what they owe that blackmail is perfectly acceptable. I'm actually advocatring routine shopping of private landlords to HMRC wether they pay back depsits or not... like I said, a form of guerilla warfare. next you'll be complaining the state is too big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 next you'll be complaining the state is too big. Actually I would agree it is too big...its more a question of what you do with it rather than how big it is, but thtas a discussion for another day and place..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 The so called Rental Deposit scheme is run by private companies so there no reason why (unless they chose to look) what goes on there would come to the attention of HMRC. Well, that was my point really. If HMRC are not cross referencing receipts against something like the Rental Deposit scheme already, why would they act on someone calling them up regarding an individual landlord? And more to the point, for all you know the landlord may very well be paying tax, how can anyone know for sure otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I think if they are transparently not paying you what they owe that blackmail is perfectly acceptable. I'm actually advocatring routine shopping of private landlords to HMRC wether they pay back depsits or not... like I said, a form of guerilla warfare. See my post above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injin Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Actually I would agree it is too big...its more a question of what you do with it rather than how big it is, but thtas a discussion for another day and place..... Next you'll be whining that your tax bill is too large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 Well, that was my point really. If HMRC are not cross referencing receipts against something like the Rental Deposit scheme already, why would they act on someone calling them up regarding an individual landlord? And more to the point, for all you know the landlord may very well be paying tax, how can anyone know for sure otherwise? Theres obviously no gaurantee at all, you're correct, but its a question of doing nothing and simply complying or kicking against the pricks every now and then...its always better to do something than nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 Next you'll be whining that your tax bill is too large. My tax bill is woefully small as (sadly) I earn bugger all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 To be honest, all renters would be well advised to notify HMRC on leaving a property for whatever reason, that they have been paying rent to Mr x of £y per month just so that the HMRC can make a note of it. EDIT: It's either that or cuts to public services, pensions etc. +1 Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 What's the tax scam in changing letting agents every so often? (Can they just fold keeping all the rent and not passing it on - and if you have enough people prepared to set up companies for you and do that...?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injin Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 +1 Exactly. The solution to a high rent environment isn't to give more money to the people who made it a high rent environment. Apart from that, your suggestion is evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blod Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 It might be interesting to request how many individuals are declaring rental income to the HMRC via a freedom of information request and then compare it to how many rental homes are BTL from department of Communities and Local Government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stop The Ride Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 The solution to a high rent environment isn't to give more money to the people who made it a high rent environment. Apart from that, your suggestion is evil. Doh! It's about shafting landlords, not solving problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injin Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Doh! It's about shafting landlords, not solving problems. HMRC owns the whole "country" and charges everyone rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 (edited) If you are letting is owned by a private individual the chances are that he is not paying tax on his rental income, so this approach may work for you. Actually if he is letting through a bona-fide agency the chances are that he is paying tax on that income as agencies are not allowed to let properties without deducting tax at source that are not declared to the inland revenue. Edited September 29, 2010 by davidg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 The solution to a high rent environment isn't to give more money to the people who made it a high rent environment. Apart from that, your suggestion is evil. Au contraire Injin me dear...shopping landlords for tax evasion is every citizens duty and is a just and noble cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucifer Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 Actually if he is letting through a bona-fide agency the chances are that he is paying tax on that income as agencies are not allowed to let properties that are not declared to the inland revenue. Hmm...and there are fairies at the bottom of my garden too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injin Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Au contraire Injin me dear...shopping landlords for tax evasion is every citizens duty and is a just and noble cause. No, it's completely evil and self defeating behaviour. You are reporting a landlord to a landlord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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