HS251 Agricultural land (2021)
Updated 6 April 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-land-hs251-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs251-agricultural-land-2021
This helpsheet gives you information to help you fill in the UK property pages in your tax return. The box numbers mentioned refer to those pages.
This helpsheet covers the additional loss relief, known as ‘agricultural relief’, available to you where agricultural land is included in your rental business.
Special provisions for maintenance expenditure
Where your rental business includes land used for agricultural purposes, you should keep a record of any expenditure on maintenance, repairs, insurance and management on agricultural land let out. (Interest paid or alternative finance payments are not agricultural expenses). Normally, any loss you make in your rental business can only be carried forward and set against future profits of the same rental business. However, there are special rules that allow you to set off the amount of your rental business loss equal to the expenses, against your total income. You can set the lesser of the:
- loss
- relevant expenditure on the agricultural land you let out
Against your income from other sources of either the tax year in which the loss is incurred, or of the following tax year. Any set-off will reduce the rental business loss available to carry forward to future years.
From the tax year 2013 to 2014, there’s an additional limit on the amount of Income Tax relief that an individual may claim for deduction from their total income in a tax year.
The limit in each tax year is the greater of £50,000 or 25% of the individual’s adjusted total income. If you’re impacted by the limit (or think you could be), see Limit on Income Tax reliefs (Self Assessment helpsheet HS204).
What agricultural land is
Agricultural land includes land, houses or other buildings in the UK occupied wholly or mainly for the purposes of husbandry.
Under tax rules, husbandry does not include market gardening. Activities normally recognisable as farming, such as the growing of crops or the raising of farm livestock, will all be included as acts of husbandry.
How to claim agricultural relief against general income
Where you’ve made a loss in your rental business in a tax year, you should enter the total amount of that loss in box 41 of the UK property pages.
By keeping a separate note of the expenditure on maintenance, repairs, insurance and management of the agricultural land, you will be able to compare this total with the total rental business loss made in the year, to arrive at the maximum relief due against your general income from other sources.
The amount of agricultural relief available is restricted to the smallest of the following 3 figures:
- your general income after any allowable rental business losses have been deducted
- the amount of the rental business loss made in the year (box 41 of the UK property pages)
- the expenditure on repairs, maintenance, insurance or management of the agricultural land
But, where the loss is greater than £50,000, see above.
Contact
Online forms, phone numbers and addresses for advice on Self Assessment.