The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability or knowledge overestimate their competence, while highly skilled people may underestimate theirs. This occurs because those with limited expertise lack the insight to recognise their deficiencies, while experts are more aware of the complexity of their domain. You know this exists but probably […]
Category Archives: Tax
I had a great chat with a chap today who has used a couple of different advisors over the years and told me that the main problem he has now is that his current one is “dry”. Obviously you’re all surprised to learn that there are dry tax advisors out there but there are! A […]
Tax is a strange one. It is often one of the things we worry about the most but yet we don’t do all we can to figure out what the actual number is. Having overseen the preparation of tens of thousands on tax returns over many year, and having personal prepared thousands one thing was […]
I was speaking at Durham Council’s Landlord event last night. They talked openly about the need for selective licensing and what they are doing within the scheme. One strange thing came up though. They mention ed HMRC in their talk. Why would that be? Well you might not know but there are already some licenses […]
Joe decided to buy a house refurb it and sell it. He declared the sale to HMRC within 60 days of completion and sent then 24% of the uplift because he is a higher rate taxpayer. Job done and money used as a deposit on his home. He’s happy. His wife is happy. Everyone is […]
Regular readers will know I am going through some of the questions from a recent interactive quiz I did called “Ten Tax Things all Landlords should know”. The average score when I do this is 3 out of 10. All of the questions are fairly routine things that are likely to happen to landlords. My […]
From my Ten Things series. When you buy a house you will normally get a survey or as a minimum of valuation report. These things cost and you’ll like want to claim the cost as an expense. Like other purchase or sale costs these are part of the capital side of the deal and will […]
One of the great things about property is that over time the value goes up. When it does you get to remortgage. This is great! Raising capital against an existing BTL creates a cash pile to use elsewhere. One of the terrible things about property is that over time the value goes down. Sometimes. […]
Landlords love a good deal. They especially like getting deals before they come to market. One of the ways you might try to curry favour is through entertaining. Take agents out for a meal, solicitors to get the inside road on prorate properties. You might even take your tax advisor out to say thank you […]
Continuing with my ten things all landlords need to know… “A new HMO is fully furnished. Is the cost allowable?” This one should be nice and easy yeah? Someone buys a big house, furnishes it and rents the rooms out. Surely tax relief is due on the furniture! Nope! Not initially at least. […]