Proposals to add shared occupancy test to Rent-A-Room relief to be scrapped

This summer, HM Treasury proposed a new “shared occupancy test” for those renting their spare rooms to continue to qualify for the annual £7,500 rent-a-room tax relief. This was due to be included in the 2018-2019 Finance Bill and would have brought an end to rent-a-room relief for those who rented out a single room whilst they were absent or from renting out entire properties whilst away from home.

AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) campaigned against the change which they said “added unnecessary complexity to the tax system, had a negligible impact on tax receipts, would draw thousands of people into the tax self-assessment system and would be a nightmare to enforce”.

The Budget review documentation published yesterday confirms that the draft legislation has been scrapped, “…to maintain the simplicity of the system.”

Phil Hall, AAT Head of Public Affairs & Public Policy, said;

“AAT is delighted that HM Treasury has seen sense on this and recognised that the best solution for landlords, tenants, policymakers and the economy was to drop these plans and allow rent-a-room relief to continue as it has for over 25 years as a simple to administer, easy to understand tax relief that’s available to all.”

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