My Property Accountant Specialist property accountants for landlords, property investors and short-term let hosts

Property accountant fees typically start at around £350 for a tax return where one property is owned personally, and around £1,000 for annual accounts and a Corporation Tax return where the property is held through a limited company. Fees then increase depending on the number of properties and the complexity of your portfolio.

We usually charge a one-off catch-up fee for the previous year, followed by a fixed monthly fee that spreads the cost and includes routine support throughout the year.

Landlords who own property personally can file their own Self Assessment tax return, while limited company landlords need annual accounts and a Corporation Tax return prepared and filed each year, which makes a property tax accountant essential for most company landlords.

If you own personally, an accountant becomes increasingly valuable as your portfolio grows, you enter the higher-rate tax band or you consider buying through a limited company. They can ensure expenses are claimed correctly and help you plan ahead.

Common routes include transferring a share of the property to a spouse on a lower tax band, though a transfer can trigger Stamp Duty Land Tax where a mortgage is involved, holding new purchases in a limited company where profits face corporation tax rates instead, and maximising allowable expenses. Each has trade offs across income tax, capital gains and inheritance tax, which is exactly what a planning review covers.

Landlords with gross rental income of £1,000 or less usually do not need to tell HMRC, because the property allowance covers it. Above £1,000, the income must be declared through a Self Assessment tax return each year.

Filing a return can also record rental losses to offset against future rental profits. HMRC may write to landlords where it believes rental income has not been declared, and if previous years were missed, the Let Property Campaign can be used to bring your tax affairs up to date.

HMRC receives data from letting agents, tenancy deposit schemes, the Land Registry, local councils and booking platforms such as Airbnb, which must now report host earnings. Its Connect system makes it easy to cross reference all of this against tax returns, so undeclared rent is usually found eventually.

Allowable costs include letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance, insurance, ground rent and service charges, accountancy fees and replacing domestic items. Mortgage interest on personally held buy to lets receives a 20% basic rate credit rather than a full deduction, while limited companies deduct it in full.

The common mistakes are confusing repairs with improvements and mis-claiming mortgage interest. In the right structure you can also claim electric cars, pension contributions, mileage, use of home costs, wages for family members who genuinely work in the business, and property training or mentoring. That flexibility is one reason many landlords review their structure with us.

The biggest change is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, live since April 2026 for incomes over £50,000 and extending to £30,000 from April 2027. Quarterly digital reporting replaces the single annual return. We set clients up on compliant software and handle the submissions.

Other recent changes still catch landlords out: the stamp duty surcharge on additional properties has risen to 5%, and furnished holiday lets have lost their special status, so they no longer qualify for new capital allowances and mortgage interest is restricted to the 20% basic rate credit like any other rental.