Should I put all the rent in my name now I have left work?

[claraandbertha]

DH and I jointly own a small house we rent out privately. I have recently left my job and don't expect to earn much in the near future. We are about to get new tenants and I was wondering if I should be the sole signatory on the new rental contract? If we did this, would this mean that only I have to pay tax on the rent, even though DH and I own the house jointly? If this is true, it might save us quite a lot of money in tax.

If it is owned jointly then you should both declare the income. Depending on how much it is you could look at transferring some of your personal allowance to him if you are married.

Thank you NeverHadANickname. I clearly haven't understood this situation. We are married but I didn't know I could transfer some of my personal allowance (maybe because this is first time I will not be earning).

So just so I am clear, there is no tax advantage in having only my name on the rental contract because we jointly own the property? Does DH really have to pay tax on income he hasn't received?

If it is a jointly owned property he has received the income though

This won’t work. Instead, you could think about transferring 10% of any unused personal allowance to him.

Here's a link with info about transferring some of your personal allowance if you are interested. It's not a lot but it will get a couple of hundred quid a year.
www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

Look on HMRC website about self assessment tax declarations from rental income. You still need to complete the online or paper tax form, even if you pay no tax

Sorry I didn't come back sooner but others have answered too. No advantage to having just your name on any contract. If you both own the property then technically HMRC see it that he has had half. Have a look at that link for the HMRC website about transferring your allowance.

Hope that makes sense 😊

As a married couple the deemed split is 50/50 for income.

You can send Form 17 to HMRC to split the income differently, but this is down to ownership proportions. So you could set up a Declaration of Trust where your husband gifts you his 50% of the beneficial interest, so you own 100%, so you will have 100% of the income.

There are other implications for stamp duty if there is a mortgage (and if the lender will actually let you do it) and for capital gains tax on future disposal.

So if you are looking to do that, not best to DIY if you don't fully understand the implications.

Thank to everyone for all the advice.

It looks like if I want to go down the Form 17 route then I should get professional advice.