Significant increase in the number of landlords admit...

The number of buy-to-let landlords confessing to not paying tax has soared, new figures show.

A crackdown by HM Revenue and Customs prompted a 145% jump in the number of landlords declaring unpaid tax - from 6,600 in 2017/18 to 16,110 in 2018/19.

Additional taxes collected by HMRC from buy-to-let landlords who admitted to unpaid tax on their rental income have more than doubled over the corresponding period, from £21m to £42m.

HMRC has been behind an initiative, the Let Property Campaign, which provides an opportunity for landlords who owe tax through letting out residential property, in the UK or abroad, to get up to date with their tax affairs in a simple way and take advantage of the best possible terms.

If you have undisclosed income, you must tell HMRC about any unpaid tax now. You will then have 90 days to work out and pay what you owe.

Mark Giddens, a partner at accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, commented: “HMRC sees the buy-to-let market as a source of hundreds of millions of pounds of unpaid tax.

“The amount collected just from landlords coming in from the cold suggests they may not be too far wrong with that estimate.”

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