The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Landlords
Whilst further detail continues to be provided with regards to the Government guidance on the support schemes, as the rules currently stand the SEISS grant does not entitle landlords to make a claim where their rental businesses have been impacted by Covid-19.
The guidance states that a claim can be made in respect of trading profits lost due to the coronavirus.
Property letting businesses are not regarded as a trade, even if they are operated as a business, and in the absence of any exemptions to include rental businesses, landlords will not qualify for the SEISS grant even if more than half of their taxable income is from rental income.
Similarly, the letting of furnished holiday letting (FHL) accommodation is not strictly a trade, whilst it is treated as a trade for certain areas such as pensions and capital gains tax. On this basis, as with other residential and commercial landlords, the guidance doesn’t appear to make an exception for FHL businesses and it is unlikely HMRC will consider income from an FHL as qualifying for the SEISS grant.
Landlords who have been affected by Covid-19 will need to explore other options to obtain support such as mortgage payment holidays and a reduction in their council tax or a reduction to their business rates if they have FHLs.
As new information and details are provided and should the support for landlord’s change, we will provide a further update.
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