Airbnb’s most recent accounts contain a statement that the company will share data on landlord’s income with HMRC. This information goes back to 2017.
If a property owner uses the Airbnb platform and has income over £85,000 in any twelve month period they will be required to VAT register if they have not also done so.
With the information HMRC will be able to target those business which have failed to register and, as always with VAT, if you have not, there is a penalty.
The amount of the penalty will depend on the amount of VAT due and how late the person letting property was in telling HMRC that the business should have registered (or when HMRC discovered the ‘error”).
The penalty is calculated as a percentage of the VAT due, from the date when the business should have registered to the date when HMRC either received the relevant notification, or became aware that it was required to be registered.
| If a business registered | Penalty rate is |
|---|---|
| not more than 9 months late | 5% |
| more than 9 months but not more than 18 months late | 10% |
| more than 18 months late. | 15% |
We advise that any business which is required to be VAT registered, but isn’t to contact HMRC – before they contact you…