Rent-a-Room scheme tax-free rental income- question

[mollyminniemo]

Hi all,
We rented our house via Airbnb last year and made under the annual Rent-a-Room tax-free rental limit of £7,500. It is jointly owned house with my husband, but the income was paid directly into my own (not out joint) bank account.
I am confused by the wording of the policy as on one hand it states "If your gross receipts are less than £7,500 (or £3,750) you’re automatically exempt from tax on that income'. However it then states "This reduces to £3,750 if someone else receives income from letting accommodation in the same property, such as a joint owner."

Despite earning less than the tax-free limit amount of £7500- do I still need to declare that is a joint house so - we only each qualify for £3750 each and the amount earned from the property is more than this id divided between us, but still less than the total limit of £7500? Apologies if I'm sounding confused/confusing, as I am!! Any advice hugely appreciated, thanks.

It's a joint property so you're entitled to half (or whatever proportions you own it in) the income each. So declare according to the joint ownership proportions. The account it was received into is a red herring.

So to be clear, you get part of the allowance each and you still come under threshold together, as you each get part of the allowance and part of the income.

It's half for you and half for him for tax purposes, so technically you could rent it it out for more and receive half each tax free.

As long as you both live in the property!

Hi peeeas thankyou so much for your response. The website states 'if your gross receipts are less than £7,500 (or £3,750) you’re automatically exempt from tax on that income. The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than £7,500. This means you do not need to do anything.'

You say I should declare re. the joint ownership proportions but the website's wording is basically saying if full amount earned falls under the £7500 I don't need to do anything and am automatically entered into the rent a room tax relief?

Yes, sorry, to confuse by using the word 'declare', I really meant 'treat it in that way'. So as you say you don't need to tell HMRC anything if you're under the thresholds, but just make sure you have proper records in case they ever enquire about it (probably would never come up, but if you're publicly on Airbnb etc, it feasibly could).

Pheeew, thankyou so so much for putting my (already overly chaotic as you may have guessed!!) mind at rest. Thanks Peeeas and also onmywayamarillo x