Newsletter Autumn 2013

VAT on holiday lets

If you stay in a hotel, you pay VAT. If you rent holiday accommodation, it's VATable under a similar rule – but the UK registration threshold of £79,000 a year means that many owners who rent out their holiday homes don't have to charge VAT.

There are two catches. First, if a foreign resident owns a UK holiday home, a change on 1 December 2012 means that they no longer benefit from the £79,000 threshold. Someone who 'belongs outside the UK' but makes supplies of UK land will have to register immediately. It's possible to avoid this by using a UK-based agent to manage the lettings – then you are treated as 'belonging in the UK' and you are entitled to the threshold. But if you manage it yourself from abroad – VAT will be due on the rent.

The second catch relates to UK residents with holiday homes in other countries. Even before the recent changes to thresholds for 'non-established persons', many EU countries had much lower thresholds than the UK, and some have no threshold at all. So anyone who lets out a holiday home in another member state should take local advice about the VAT treatment.

After which... you may need a holiday!