Claiming Tax Relief on Overseas Property

Newsletter issue - June 09.

In our Budget newsletter we mentioned that UK residents could now make claims for tax reliefs associated with furnished holiday let property situated in other EEA countries. The EEA countries are the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The tax reliefs that could be claimed include:

• Setting losses on the let property against other UK income;
• Capital allowances on equipment used in the property;
• Capital gains relief on selling the property;
• Entrepreneurs' relief for disposals made after 5 April 2008;
• Business asset taper relief for disposals made before 6 April 2008; and
• Business property relief for inheritance tax.

These tax reliefs could apply for a number of PAST tax years, but to qualify you need to prove all of the following applied for the relevant year:

• The letting business was carried on commercially with a view to a profit;
• The property was available to let as furnished short-term holiday accommodation for at least 140 days per year;
• It was actually let for these short-term periods for at least 70 days per year; and
• Longer-term lettings, which exceed 31 consecutive days let to the same person, did not take up more than 155 days per year.

If this applies to you we can help you make a claim for tax relief which may be due.

For older years, the deadline for claiming is 31 July 2009. So if you think you might have a claim you need to act quickly.