Guidance

Let Property Campaign: your guide to making a disclosure

Updated 6 April 2025

1. About the Let Property Campaign

1.1 Overview

HMRC wants to help landlords get their tax right.

The Let Property Campaign is for landlords who owe tax through letting out residential property in the UK or abroad.

If you’re a landlord and you have undisclosed income, you must tell HMRC about any unpaid tax now. You’ll then have 90 days to work out and pay what you owe. If you do not do this now, and HMRC finds out later, you could get higher penalties or face criminal prosecution.

This guide explains how you can notify HMRC and pay the tax that you owe.

1.2 Who should use the Let Property Campaign to disclose taxes on rental income

Use the Let Property questionnaire to check if you need to disclose unpaid taxes under this campaign.

You can report previously undisclosed taxes on rental income to HMRC under the Let Property Campaign if you’re an individual landlord renting out residential property.

This includes:

• renting out a single property
• renting out multiple properties
• renting out a room in your main home that’s over the Rent a Room Scheme threshold
• holiday lettings
• if you live abroad or intend to live abroad for more than 6 months and rent out a property in the UK, as you may still be liable to UK taxes
• if you’ve inherited a property and renting it out

It does not include:

• landlords who are letting out non-residential properties, such as a shop, garage or lock up
• if you want to disclose income on behalf of a company or a trust

Read these examples of tax errors landlords make to see if you’ve misunderstood the rules around letting income. This page includes some useful case studies of how people can unexpectedly become landlords.

Whether your errors were due to misunderstanding the rules, or you deliberately avoided paying the right amount, you should notify HMRC now.

1.3 If you need help

You can subscribe for email updates, register for webinars and watch previous recordings on our HMRC email updates, videos and webinars for landlords page.

If there is anything about your health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for you to deal with this matter, then please call the Let Property Campaign helpline.

2. How to make a notification and disclosure of rental income to HMRC

You can tell HMRC about underpaid tax from previous years if you’re:

• an individual
• an agent
• you’re disclosing information on behalf of someone who has died

2.1 Notify HMRC of your intention to make a disclosure

You must tell HMRC of your intention to make a disclosure. You need to do this as soon as you become aware that you owe tax on your letting income.

At this stage, you only need to tell HMRC that you’ll be making a disclosure. You do not need to provide any details of the undisclosed income or the tax you believe you owe.

You can tell HMRC about a disclosure you’ll be making:

• about your own tax affairs
• on behalf of someone else (for example, if you’re a tax adviser)

You cannot include details for more than one person on a disclosure. For example, if a husband and wife both have undisclosed income they must complete separate disclosures showing their share of the income they need to disclose. HMRC need a separate notification for each disclosure.

Individuals

HMRC will write to you to tell you your unique disclosure reference number.

Use this whenever you contact us about the Let Property Campaign. You’ll also be given a payment reference number to use when paying what you owe.

Agents

If you’re an agent you can tell HMRC about your client’s disclosure. You’ll then receive a disclosure reference number and a payment reference number.

Your client can use form COMP1a to allow HMRC to deal with you about a disclosure. If you notify HMRC then realise you no longer need to make a disclosure, you must tell HMRC by contacting the Let Property Helpline. If you do not do this, HMRC will take follow up action to secure a disclosure from you.

Make a disclosure for someone who’s died

If you want to make a disclosure for someone who’s died and you’re the personal representative or executor of the deceased, or their interests, you can do this.

Make sure it’s clear that you’re notifying on someone else’s behalf. You may be asked for additional evidence that you’re authorised to act for them.

2.2 Disclose your undeclared letting income

You can do this as soon as you have your disclosure reference number but you must disclose within 90 days of the date you receive your notification acknowledgement.

You can disclose information:

• about your own tax affairs
• on behalf of someone else (for example, if you’re a tax adviser)

When you send your disclosure you must pay what you owe.

Make sure that HMRC receives your disclosure and payment by the date stated on your notification acknowledgement. If you cannot pay what you owe by the deadline given you must make payment arrangements with HMRC by that date.

If you do not do this, you’ll not be able to make a disclosure under the Let Property Campaign and will not receive the certainty of the campaign’s terms and conditions.

3. How to calculate what you owe and make a formal offer of payment to HMRC

3.1 Calculate what you owe

Depending on your circumstances this could be simple or complicated and you may want to get independent professional advice.

Although you have 90 days from the date of your notification acknowledgement to make your disclosure, HMRC recommends that you start gathering your information and records as early as possible. HMRC cannot provide individual advice on calculating how much you should pay.

You’ll need to work out the total rental income for each year you have previously failed to tell HMRC about.

You do not need to include any income in your disclosure that you have already told HMRC about, for example on a previous tax return. This is because you should have already paid tax on this income.

You’ll also need to work out the allowable expenses that you incurred on that rental income. You cannot claim any expenses that you have already claimed on income you have previously told HMRC about. Allowable rental expenses are the things you spent money on as part of the day to day running of your property. 

You’ll then need to deduct the allowable expenses from your income in order to determine your taxable profit. Not all of the expenses you incur will be allowable as a deduction. 

Find out more about paying tax when renting out a property.

Once you have worked out the additional rental income you need to disclose you’ll need to work out how much tax you owe on that income. 

The rates of Income Tax you’ll pay depend on how much income you earn above your Personal Allowance, which is an annual amount of tax free income.

If you have already told HMRC about some income and are now disclosing additional income for any year, you need to make sure that you take this into account in your calculations.

HMRC has produced a calculator that you may be able to use to work out what you owe. This can be used to work out interest and penalties that are due on tax liability for up to the previous 20 years.

You’ll need to work out the tax liability due for each year manually prior to using this tool.

This calculator is designed to assist those who wish to disclose previously unpaid liabilities relating to:

• employment
• self-employment
• rental income
• Capital Gains

The calculator is not suitable for those who have additional types of income that are not listed, like investment income.

For the calculator to work, you must enter details of all of the income you received in the year, not just the additional income you’re now disclosing. This information is needed to work out the additional tax due at the correct rate.

Do not enter your rental profits in the profits from self-employment as this could generate a Class 4 National Insurance contributions charge incorrectly.

If your affairs are more complex or if you’re in any doubt about using this calculator, you may want to speak with a tax adviser or agent.

3.2 Rental losses

Your disclosure should only include details of those years where a tax liability arises that you have not previously told HMRC about.

If, after you deduct your allowable expenses from your rental income, you discover that you have made a loss for any year, you will not need to include that year in your disclosure as there will be no tax due.

As a general rule you can carry that loss forward and use it to reduce the liability on your rental profits in following years. Rental losses can only be used against future rental profits. They cannot be used to reduce your liability on other income.

Calculating losses can be complex, so if you discover that you have made a loss in any year and want to carry this forward for use in further years you may want to get independent professional advice.

3.3 If you do not have all the business records you need to make your disclosure

If your records are incomplete you should make your best estimate of the undisclosed income and gains and use this to make your disclosure.

HMRC may ask you to explain how you have worked out any estimates you have used, so you need to keep your calculations.

If you have your bank statements for the period of your disclosure they will probably help. If you do not have them HMRC recommends you contact your bank as soon as possible to get copies.

If you cannot get copy statements at all, you should work out your income by using more recent statements as a guide to your income and expenditure. HMRC may ask you to explain why you could not get copy statements.

If you have not kept proper business records you should begin to do so immediately. This is your opportunity to put things right from now on.

If HMRC finds in the future that you have failed to keep appropriate records, they can charge penalties of up to £3,000.

3.4 Income you should include in your disclosure

Include all of the income you have not told HMRC about before in your disclosure.

Income earned in either the current tax year or the year before the current tax year

Any income you have had in the current tax year should not be included in your disclosure. If you are not registered for self-assessment you’ll need to register now for Income Tax.

HMRC will send you a tax return or notice to file a tax return shortly after the end of the current tax year. Report this income on that tax return by the deadline.

There are different deadlines for individuals and companies. Include the income you had in the year before the current tax year on a tax return rather than in your disclosure.

If you have submitted the previous year’s tax return you can make an amendment within 12 months of the statutory filing date.

Income Tax returns

Income Tax returns usually need to be submitted following the end of the tax year:

• 1 October for paper returns
• 31 January for online returns

It’s likely that, for current and prior year, you’ll still have time to submit an accurate tax return including this income. If HMRC sent you a tax return for any tax year from 2021 to 2022 onwards that’s still outstanding, you must complete each return and not include those years in your disclosure.

3.5 How many years to include in your disclosure

This depends on why things went wrong.

If you’re taking part in the Let Property Campaign you’ll know why you have not previously told us about your income or paid the right amount of tax.

You’ll need to understand when you should have told us that you were receiving letting income as this will have a bearing on the number of years that you’ll now need to disclose.

HMRC will also ask you to decide whether you made an error despite taking reasonable care, whether you were careless, or whether it was something you did deliberately.

How much you pay will depend on the answers to those questions.

If you failed to notify HMRC about receiving letting income

When you start to receive letting income the latest you should tell HMRC is by 5 October after the end of the tax year for which you start to receive that income.

If, for example, you have tax to pay on rent from a property in the tax year 2024 to 2025, you need to let HMRC know by 5 October 2025.

If you failed to register for a Self Assessment tax return by the appropriate deadline you’ll have to pay HMRC what you owe for a maximum of 20 years.

If you have taken reasonable care

If you registered for a Self Assessment tax return by the appropriate deadline, have taken care to make sure your tax affairs were correct but you have still paid too little, you’ll only have to pay HMRC what you owe for a maximum of 4 years. This means you:

• will need to make sure that your tax affairs for the current and later tax years are accurately reported on tax returns by the appropriate deadlines
• will need to make sure that your tax affairs for the year prior to the current tax year are reported on the tax return that was issued to you for that year by the appropriate deadline
• have to complete the disclosure form and pay HMRC what you owe for the 3 years prior to this

If you did not take reasonable care

If you registered for a Self Assessment tax return by the appropriate deadline but you have paid too little because you were careless, you’ll have to pay HMRC what you owe for a maximum of 6 years. This means you:

• will need to make sure that your tax affairs for the current and later tax years are accurately reported on tax returns by the appropriate deadlines
• will need to make sure that your tax affairs for the year prior to the current tax year are reported on the tax return that was issued to you for that year by the appropriate deadline
• have to complete the disclosure form and pay HMRC what you owe for the 5 years prior to this

If you deliberately misled HMRC about this income

If you have deliberately paid too little tax you’ll have to pay HMRC what you owe for a maximum of 20 years.

HMRC expects most people to have to pay a maximum of 6 years but there will be some who need to pay more. These are people who have either:

• deliberately told HMRC they have earned less than they have
• not told HMRC anything at all about their income

3.6 Other liabilities you should include in your disclosure

A condition of taking part in the Let Property Campaign is that you include all of the income you have previously not told HMRC about in your disclosure as well as the income you receive from letting out property. This may include:

• earned income not taxed before you receive it, for example, profits from another business
• investment income not taxed before you receive it, for example, interest
• income from non-residential property or land rental (less the expenses relating to that income)
• capital gains made on the disposal of investments, such as land, property, shares, stocks, bonds, goodwill

3.7 Other liabilities you can tell us about in your disclosure

You can indicate in your disclosure form if you think you may need to resolve any issues in relation to other types of income for example:

• VAT
• Employer Tax
• Inheritance Tax
• trust income or income arising during a period of administration

Your details will be passed on to the appropriate department within HMRC.

You’ll be contacted in due course by someone who will explain how you can rectify your tax affairs in relation to these areas.

You can also indicate on the form if:

• you need to resolve any issues regarding your residency status to determine your chargeability to UK tax
• you or your partner have received tax credits in any of the years you have included in your disclosure as HMRC may need to review these payments

The disclosure form includes more guidance to help you decide whether you need to tell HMRC about these issues or not.

3.8 Interest

HMRC charges interest from the date tax is due until the date it is actually paid. Interest is worked out on a daily basis.

Any additional tax that’s included in your disclosure will be late and so will attract an interest charge.

If you fail to include the correct interest your disclosure will be rejected as it will not be complete. There’s a calculator available to help you work out the right amount of interest due.

Read how to work out what you owe before using this calculator.

3.9 Penalties

HMRC charges penalties on any additional tax you owe if you:

• sent us an incorrect tax return
• did not tell us that you’re liable to tax

HMRC does not charge interest on these penalties unless you pay them late.

In specific circumstances it may not be appropriate to allow you the full reductions for disclosure. For example, if you’ve taken a significant period to correct your non-compliance, you cannot expect HMRC to agree a full reduction for disclosure.

In such cases it’s unlikely that HMRC will reduce your penalty by more than 10 percentage points above the minimum of the statutory range. For this purpose HMRC would normally consider a ‘significant period’ to be over 3 years, or less where the overall disclosure covers a longer period.

The factsheets on penalties for inaccuracies in returns and penalties for failure to notify have more information on the statutory range for penalties and how they can be reduced. If you think you might not be entitled to the full reduction, you should read these factsheets which provide more detail about calculating any reduction.

As you’re making a disclosure, it is you (rather than a compliance officer) who must consider and calculate any penalties in the way the factsheets describe.

The penalty is a percentage of the additional amount you owe. HMRC can charge penalties of up to:

• 100% of the tax liability if the income or gain arose in the UK
• 200% for an offshore liability

If you have offshore income or gains to disclose you should make your disclosure and select the offshore option in the form where appropriate.

Although the rate of the penalties will vary depending on your circumstances, they’ll usually be lower if you make a voluntary disclosure.

If you’ve taken reasonable care with your tax affairs, but you have not declared the right amount of tax you owe, you’ll not pay any penalties at all. HMRC do not expect many people’s circumstances to fall within this category.

If you have not paid enough tax even though you’ve taken reasonable care with your affairs or there’s anything else you think HMRC should consider concerning the penalties you have to pay, phone the helpline before making your disclosure.

If HMRC thinks that you have not included the right penalty in your disclosure, it may be rejected.

3.10 Your rights when considering penalties

When you consider whether you need to pay a penalty in connection with your disclosure, Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights gives you certain rights.

You have the right:

• to seek help from a professional adviser
• to have the matter of penalties dealt with without unreasonable delay
• not to incriminate yourself

If you decide that a penalty is due as part of this disclosure opportunity, by making the disclosure about penalties, you will be giving up your right to silence under Article 6. This means HMRC can use anything you decide to tell them when considering your liability to penalties.

The extent to which you co-operate with HMRC and answer our questions about penalties will still be a matter for you to decide.

3.11 Declaration

This is a very important part of your disclosure. You should only complete the declaration once you’re certain that:

• your disclosure is correct and complete
• you understand why you have been asked to include penalties in your disclosure

3.12 Offer

It is a condition of using the Let Property Campaign that you make an offer for the full amount of everything you owe. Your offer, together with HMRC’s acceptance letter, will create a legally binding contract between you and HMRC. There are letters of offer included in the disclosure forms which you should complete.

4. Pay HMRC

4.1 When to pay

When you pay, you’ll need a payment reference number. You’ll get this when you notify HMRC that you intend to make a disclosure.

Unless you’ve contacted HMRC to agree additional time to pay, you should send your payment at the same time as you send your disclosure. HMRC should receive it no later than the 90 day deadline given on your notification acknowledgement letter.

If you do not pay your outstanding liabilities, HMRC will take steps to recover the money.

4.2 Payment methods

Whichever way you pay, make sure that you quote your payment reference number. HMRC accepts payment by a range of methods but recommends that you make your payment electronically.

Electronic payments are more efficient, secure and safer than payment by post.

4.3 What happens if you cannot pay the full amount

HMRC expects you to pay what you owe when you make your disclosure.

If you cannot pay the full amount, you’ll need to let HMRC know as soon as possible and before you send in your disclosure. To do this, you should contact the Let Property Campaign Helpline.

When you phone, HMRC will want to talk to you about your current financial position so they can tell you what they think you should pay and when. To help HMRC decide, you’ll need to tell them:

• your disclosure reference number
• how and when you intend to pay HMRC what you owe
• what your current weekly or monthly income and outgoings are
• what you own, including your home, other property and land, vehicles, investments, money in the bank
• what you owe, including mortgages, loans, credit cards

If you cannot pay the full amount, do not submit your disclosure or payment until you have spoken to HMRC.

5. After HMRC receives your disclosure

5.1 Accepting your disclosure

HMRC anticipates that the vast majority of disclosures will be accepted. If, after checks, HMRC is satisfied that you have made a full disclosure, they will accept it as quickly as possible.

5.2 Acknowledging your disclosure

When they receive your disclosure, HMRC will send you an acknowledgement as soon as possible. HMRC will then consider the disclosure under the terms of the Let Property Campaign.

If you have not received an acknowledgement within 30 days of sending your disclosure, phone the Let Property Campaign Helpline.

HMRC expects most disclosures to be self-explanatory but they may need to contact you or your tax adviser to clarify any points. You may also be asked to provide evidence of your circumstances to satisfy HMRC that your disclosure is complete.

Your full co-operation is one of the conditions of using this opportunity and failure to co-operate may jeopardise acceptance of your offer.

5.3 Considering your disclosure

HMRC will review all disclosures. If after those checks are completed HMRC decide to accept your disclosure, they will send you a letter accepting your offer.

If HMRC cannot accept the disclosure they will contact you. After their enquiries if HMRC finds that a disclosure is materially incorrect they will look to charge significantly higher penalties.

It’s also possible that in exceptional circumstances an incomplete disclosure may be considered under HMRC Criminal Investigation Policy. In such cases the material in the disclosure could be used as evidence.

5.4 Disclosures that are unlikely to be accepted through the Let Property Campaign

Certain disclosures are unlikely to be accepted under the Let Property Campaign.

Disclosures that are found to be materially incorrect or incomplete when checked by HMRC are unlikely to be accepted under the Let Property Campaign.

Also unlikely to be accepted are disclosures from customers where HMRC has notified their intention to open an enquiry or compliance check before the customer has notified their intention to submit a disclosure under the campaign.

Those who want to disclose liabilities under these circumstances should tell the person conducting the enquiry. A full and early disclosure will influence the amount of penalty HMRC looks to charge in the ongoing enquiry or investigation.

Instances involving disclosures where HMRC believes the money that is the subject of the disclosure is the proceeds of serious organised crime are not likely to be accepted.

Examples of this include:

• VAT fraud
• VAT bogus registration fraud
• organised tax credit fraud
• instances where there is wider criminality (such as an ongoing police investigation)

An important factor for HMRC in deciding if they will carry out civil or criminal investigations into cases of fiscal fraud is whether the taxpayer or taxpayers have made a complete and unprompted disclosure of any amounts evaded or improperly reclaimed.

While HMRC would consider each case on its merits, a complete and unprompted disclosure would generally suggest that a civil (rather than criminal) investigation was appropriate.

Also, if you were eligible for any past HMRC disclosure opportunity and you did not disclose at that time, HMRC may find it hard to accept that anything you disclose through the Let Property Campaign was not a result of something you did deliberately.

HMRC would expect you to work out your penalty and the number of years you should pay to reflect deliberate action. If you do not, HMRC may not accept your disclosure. You’ll be in this category if you have not yet come forward and would have been covered by a previous campaign.

5.5 If you disclose very serious tax problems

HMRC cannot offer immunity from prosecution but an important factor when they are deciding whether to carry out criminal investigations into cases of tax fraud is whether you have made a complete and unprompted disclosure of any amounts evaded or improperly reclaimed.

5.6 If you leave something important out of your disclosure

If after submitting your disclosure you realise you have missed something out, you should immediately contact HMRC to make an amendment.

You can do this by phone or by writing (forwarding your amendment) to the Let Property Campaign Team.

If HMRC receives information indicating that your disclosure was incorrect, they have the right to look at your tax affairs again.

HMRC may write to you about the information they have received and if necessary, will send you assessments to collect any extra tax due. These penalties are likely to be higher than those offered by the Let Property Campaign.

5.7 Information received after disclosure accepted

HMRC will continue to look for new information. They will use it to identify customers where a disclosure should have been made or where the disclosure made is not what was expected based on the information HMRC holds.

5.8 Publishing details of deliberate defaulters

In certain circumstances HMRC is able to publish the details of those penalised for deliberately failing in particular tax obligations.

If you come forward as part of this campaign you’ll earn the maximum reduction of any relevant penalties for the quality of disclosure, and HMRC will not publish your details if you do all of the following:

• notify HMRC that you’re going to make a disclosure
• make a full disclosure including full payment of tax owed which proves to be both accurate and complete before the deadline you’re given for doing so
• co-operate fully with HMRC if they ask you for any more information

HMRC may include you in a list of deliberate defaulters if you do not follow these steps.

6. Get things right for the future

Once you have submitted your disclosure HMRC expects you to keep your tax affairs in order in the future. This means that you should continue to accurately declare your income and gains for those years that fall after the latest year you include in your disclosure.

You should ensure any tax returns that are issued to you’re returned with accurate information by the appropriate deadlines.

7. General information

7.1 Help and advice

If you have any questions not covered by this guide, phone the Let Property Campaign Helpline.

HMRC has also produced a toolkit which specifically relates to property rental. This is aimed at tax advisors to help them complete tax returns.

It may also be helpful to anyone completing a disclosure as it explains some of the common mistakes that are made in relation to calculating rental income.

You can also read the SA105 guidance notes that HMRC issues to help complete the rental pages on a tax return.

7.2 Customers with particular needs

Contact the Let Property Campaign Helpline if you need extra help. Support is available if:

• English is not your first language
• you want a copy of this guidance in Welsh
• you would like HMRC to use a certain format to communicate with you — for example braille or Text Relay
• you would like a copy of this guidance in audio or large print

Contact the Let Property Campaign Helpline if you use Text Relay by:

• text-phone by dialling 18001 + number
• telephone by dialling 18002 + number

7.3 Your rights and obligations

Read HMRC Charter to find out what you can expect from HMRC and what HMRC expects from you.

7.4 If you’re unhappy with HMRC’s service

If you’re unhappy with HMRC’s service, phone or write to the Let Property Campaign Team.

7.5 Privacy and confidentiality policy

The full protection of the Human Rights Act will continue to apply to you and HMRC has a strict policy regarding the privacy and confidentiality of customers’ personal information.

7.6 Data Protection Act

HMRC is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. HMRC holds information for the purposes specified in their notification to the Information Commissioner, including the assessment and collection of tax and duties, the payment of benefits and the prevention and detection of crime, and may use this information for any of them.

HMRC may get information about you from others, or they may give information to them. If HMRC does, it will only be as the law permits to:

• check the accuracy of information
• prevent or detect crime
• protect public funds

HMRC may check information they receive about you with what is already in their records. This can include information you have given, as well as by others such as other government departments or agencies and overseas tax and customs authorities.

HMRC will not give information to anyone outside HMRC unless the law permits them to do so.

You can read HMRC Privacy Notice for more information about HMRC’s data protection policy and procedures.