Rental income tax - husband not paid

[MoominMamma15]

Im so worried sick at the moment. My husband owns his own home and kept it when we moved in together. He has rented his home out ever since but has never done self assessment tax return. Putting aside how utterly stupid/wreckless and my anger towards him - i really need some practical advice.

The house we bought was purchased before we married, the mortgage is in both our names BUT im the only one named on the deeds - mortgage was an occupant non owner on his part.

My biggest worry is that hmrc would be able to come after the family home to pay any tax he owes because we are married am i just as responsible for the debt as he is??

He is currently in the process of trying to sell it but i have made it clear he needs to disclose everything otherwise it will only be a matter of time before we get a letter or a knock at the door. His tactic is bury head in sand it will all go away.

I can’t begin to explain the stress and upset and arguments over all of this. I feel he has put us in a vulnerable place and im not willing to lose everything to pay his mistakes off.

He has never wanted me involved in his property so i have only recently been made aware of this situation.

The place is a money pit and an absolute weight round our necks. I can’t wait until its gone.

There is (or was, I'm fairly certain it still exists) a let property campaign, HMRC, that was designed for landlords to disclose and pay any unpaid tax. Going back a few years. Saves the need to do tax returns for those years.

Try this

www.gov.uk/government/publications/let-property-campaign-your-guide-to-making-a-disclosure/let-property-campaign-your-guide-to-making-a-disclosure

Your husband’s debt is his debt, not a joint one. And your house is your house, he is only on the mortgage as an occupier which does not give him any ownership of the actual property. So, I cannot see how HMRC would be able to make you sell the house to pay the debt.

But, you are jumping (understandably) ahead. Form personal experience, if someone cannot pay all of a tax bill, HMRC will usually negotiate a payment plan rather than force a sale of property.

He needs to declare this issue. I know from a colleague that her partner has done a similar thing and HMRC have approached him out of the blue, which has been shocking for them and might be a factor when they calculate the penalty to charge him (don’t know if this is the case, but it sounds possible).
Get an accountant and ask them to sort out the numbers and proactively negotiate on your behalf.

How much is the rent that the tax on it could put your home at risk?

He can make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC. Get him to do it asap. He can request a time to pay agreement if he can't pay the tax bill in a lump sum. Also don't forget that if he hasn't lived in the house for a long time he may have cgt to pay on the sale.

If the property is a money pit, has he actually made a profit?

He needs an accountant. They will calculate what he owes HMRC and contact them on your husband's behalf

This, he may not owe tax

Hi, if your husband is in the process of selling it then once the paperwork gets passing through Solicters & land registry checks this will then flag up with HMRC & you more likely will receive a compliance letter from them saying they believe you are getting income from rental property. This is worse and are currently going through this now having been in exact same situation as yourselves & just wish now we known sooner we needed to declare rental income via a self assessment yearly or even got to do voluntary disclosure like they buy to let campaign that others have mentioned.