The department for Social Development makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 65A(1) and (2) and Article 73(1) of the Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006(1)

1.       The regulations may be cited as the Landlord Regulations (Northern Ireland)                2012 and shall come into operation on 2014

2.        In the Regulations:-

     ·    “the register” means the register of landlords of dwelling-houses let under a                private tenancy;

     ·     “the registrar” means the person appointed by the Department to establish                  and maintain the register;

     ·     “authorised officer” means an officer of the district council, the Department of               Finance and Personnel or the Northern Ireland Housing Executive authorised             in writing

     ·    “landlord” includes a person acting on behalf of the landlord in relation to a                   tenancy.

3.       (1)  A landlord letting a dwelling-house must register with the registrar in                              accordance with paragraph (2)

          (2)      A Landlord must:-

     ·    Provide the information set out in Schedule 1; and

     ·    At the same time, pay the fee prescribed in Schedule (3)

4.       A landlord must register in accordance with Regulation 3 either immediately               prior to the letting of a new tenancy, within 12 months from the                                     commencement of these regulations.

5.       (1)  Registration under regulation 3 shall be for a period of 3 years.

          (2)  At the end of each 3 year period, a landlord shall:-

     ·    Supply to the registrar such information as may be necessary to ensure that               the information supplied for the purpose of regulation 3 is accurate at the date             of that supply; and

     ·    Pay the fee for continued registration specified in Schedule 3.

6.       The registrar must:-

(a)      Develop and maintain a landlord registration system capable of both electronic           and non-electronic operation which:-

      ·    Allows for the disclosure of information to the persons specified in regulation              and;

      ·    Enables a landlord to make amendments or adjustments to registered details              held;

(b)       Promote and publicise the requirement to a landlord register;

(c)       Provide guidance on how the registration system works and how to register;

(d)       Make available the information held on the register under Schedule 2;

(e)       On completion of the process of registration, issue a certificate of registration                    containing the:-

      ·    Landlord’s name and address;

      ·    Landlord’s registration number; and

      ·    Period of registration;

(f)        Ensure a landlord is notified:-

     ·     4 weeks in advance of the expiry date held on their current registration                        certificate, of the conditions to be satisfied for the continued registration; and

    ·      That where he fails to satisfy the conditions for the continued registration by                the expiry date on the current registration certificate, he is no longer a                          registered landlord.

7.       (1)  The fees payable for registration and continued registration are specified in                 Schedule 3.

(2)       A person who is the owner of a house in multiple occupation which is                          registered under a House in Multiple Occupation Registration Scheme as                    provided for under article 75B and C of the housing (Northern Ireland) Order              1992 is not liable to pay a fee under regulation 3.

8.       Where a landlord is registered in accordance with regulation 3, the landlord                 must include his registration number in correspondence in so far as the                       correspondence relates to the discharge of his functions as a landlord.

9.       Information held by the registrar and not included in the register shall, on                     request from an authorised officer be disclosed to:-

(a)      A district council for the purpose of enabling or assisting that council to                       exercise its functions under any provision of the Private Tenancies (northern               Ireland) Order 2006 and Article 54 of the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978; 

         or

(b)      The Department of Finance and Personnel for the purpose of its function                   under the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 or the Rates (Capital Values,               etc) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006; or

(c)     The Northern Ireland Housing Executive for the purpose of:-

     ·   The administration of housing benefit; and/or

     ·   The regulation of Houses in Multiple Occupation.



        Sourced by:
        Jim Wilkinson
        Senior Officer of the Department for Social Development

What Expenses Can Be Deducted From Rental Profits

The simple answer is that expenses must be incurred ‘wholly and exclusively’ for business purposes. Expenses must also be ‘revenue expenditure’ to be claimed as an income tax deduction.  This means that the expense is incurred on an ongoing basis in order to earn income (revenue).

Expenses that are not ‘revenue’ expenses are usually‘capital’ expenses (and so are deducted from the capital gain when the property is sold).

Interest and Finance Charges

Interest payable on business borrowings, including mortgages, loans, overdrafts, and credit cards. Interest is allowable on borrowings incurred for the purpose of the property rental business.  Borrowings up to the value of the property when first rented out may be claimed.  Interest on additional borrowings is allowable if used for business purposes.

Mortgage and loan arrangement fees are also allowable as are venue expense.  It does not matter if the borrowing is secured or unsecured; it only matters if the funds were used for business purposes.

Motor and Travel Expenses

Motor expenses (45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, 25p per mile thereafter) from your home to the destination (assuming you run your property rental business from home). This covers the cost of visiting Letting Agents, accountants,solicitors, checking on existing properties etc.  other reasonable travel costs including trains, bus, air and taxi fares can be claimed. Hotel and meal costs can be claimed if an overnight stay is needed.

Repairs and Renewals

To be classed as a ‘revenue expense’ the repair or renewal must only restore the property to previous condition and not enhance the value of the property.  Allowed as revenue costs is replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazed.

When completing refurbishment work that is a mixture of revenue and capital spending, it is worth asking the builder to invoice specific repairs (revenue item) separately to capital improvements (you will need to guide the builder on this).  Also included are ‘incidental’ costs such as skip hire, general labour and clean-up costs etc (assuming the cost are revenue in nature).

Accounting, Book-keeping and Taxation Fees

Accountancy and tax advisory fee are fully-allowable expenses, as are general book-keeping fees.

Legal fees associated with tenancy matter and letting agent fees are allowable expenses.  So too are legal fees specifically associated with arranging finance.

Insurance and Service Charges

Property insurance, including buildings insurance, rent insurance etc are all allowable expenses for landlords.  Ground rents and service charges, and council tax, are also allowable.

Advertising and Marketing

All kinds of business advertising and marketing are allowable expenses, including newspapers, mail-shots, leaflets and website cost, provided that these relate specifically to a property rental business.

Training Costs

Generally, seminars, courses and books that are directly relevant to a property rental business are allowable expenses.

Other Business Expenses

A ‘provision’ may be allowable for income tax purposes before the expense has been paid.  This applies if a legal obligation has been incurred, and the amount can be calculated with reasonable accuracy.

Telephone, Fax, Stationary & Other Office Costs

Technical books and publications relevant to a property rental business are allowable.  Business land-line, mobile phones (a reasonable allocation may be used between private and business use), fax machine and internet cost are allowable.

Home office costs such as postage, stationary and printing and small computer equipment.

If you run your property rental business from y our home, you may claim a proportion of household bills as a business expense.  (One fifth)

Pre-commencement Expenditure

These are expenses that are incurred before a property rental business commences – but may still be claimed as allowable business expenses if they would normally qualified.

Such expenses can be claimed for up to seven years before the business commenced, and are treated as being incurred on ‘day 1’ of the property rental business commencing.

Arrangement Fees

Arrangement fees are fully tax deductible against rental profits. Finance fees are not capital costs. Arrangement fees are almost always added onto the loan by the landlord, and the tax deduction is allowed when the expense is incurred.

When an investor buys a property initially with a mortgage, part of the solicitor bill relates to dealing with the purchase itself, and part relates to dealing with the lender and the mortgage.

However, it is only the latter element that is an allowable expense against the rental profits, and usually solicitors don’t split out their fees in this way.

Legal fees to remortgage a property are tax deductible against rental profits. So be sure to claim these costs along with the lenders fees in your rental accounts.


Employing Your Kids

Children receive an income tax Personal Allowance (2015 tax year of 10,000 per person) and income up to this limit is tax free. Therefore, paying children a wage can result in a one sided tax result, i.e., a tax deductible expense for the business, but NO tax bill arising on the income by the wage earner.

Bringing your children into the business at an early stage allows them to see the day to day reality of running a property business. It gives them a taste of self-employment which they may never experience, it may inspire them, teach them responsibility, learn them all aspects of being both a financial investor and a landlord.

Work children is permitted to do,

  -    Help with accounts, logging income and expenses
  -    Filling and general office admin
  -    Preparing paperwork
  -    Preparing properties for rentals, etc.

Rules

        Age 13 – 15

  -   Work part-time
  -   Not before 7am and after 7pm
  -   Working in school hours not allowed
  -   Can’t work in factories or building site
  -   No national minimum wage
  -   No national insurance until the age of 16.

     Age 15 – 17

  -  Children from the age of 16 can work full time – 40 hours
  -  National minimum wage of £3.79 per hour
  -  National insurance is payable if a child wages are £153 per week. 

     Age 18

  -  Minimum wage is £5.13 per hour
  -  For payments of up to £5772 per year per person there is no need to operate a          formal PAYE scheme. Most investors don’t need one, but it is important to keep          proper records of hours worked, wage rate paid. Including wages paid to children      in your accounts and tax returns become business expenses which could be              scrutinised by HMRC.
  -  If you do operate a PAYE scheme you would add a new employee to the payroll        and administer the wages in the usual way.
  -  Evidence of payment to the child, e.g. Monies paid into Childs bank account.


Sourced by: 
Your Property Network, Issue 37, July 2011