Autumn Budget webinar: Your FAQs

Our exclusive budget webinar saw nearly 1,500 of you join to understand the full impact of the Autumn Budget on your businesses and the private rented sector as a whole.

Our chief policy explained the impact this will have on rents and the supply of homes, with Leigh Sayliss, chair of the Chartered Institute of Taxation's property tax committee  walking  through the technical details of the new measures. Arjun Kumar, founder of Taxd, also joined us to provid practical guidance on preparing for Making Tax Digital.

The session covered three main areas:

• The two percentage point income tax increase on income from property and how the freeze on tax thresholds – National Insurance and Income Tax –  is likely to affect small landlords.
• The new Council Tax surcharge – dubbed the 'mansion tax' and how this will  apply to HMOs and multi-let buildings.
• Deadlines for the new Making Tax Digital system

Frequently Asked Questions

Among the frequently asked questions submitted to the team were:

Will the extra 2% apply on gross rents or net profit?

As this is an increase in the income tax rate, it is expected that this will apply on profits, rather than gross rents.

Will the High Value Council Tax charge be tax deductible if the property is held by an individual, rather than by a company?

The Government is set to consult on details of the reliefs and exemptions, the design of an appeals system, and the deferral and support mechanisms that will be available.

Will the High Value Council Tax apply to the value of the building or the value of the dwelling (for example, will landlords who own multiple flats in a building be liable to pay the HVCA)

We do not have the detail on this yet but are pressing Government to release these details as soon as possible so we can inform members as to whether it applies to their business or not.

When it comes to the High Value Council Tax Surcharge – will landlords be able to challenge valuations of their properties?

We simply do not know yet, however if the system works in the the same way as the current council tax system, where there is an appeals process, landlords willbe able to gather evidence and challenge their valuations.

If I go above the £50,000 threshold midway through the next financial year, will I need to sign up to MTD?

No, HMRC looks at your 24/25 tax return, assess your gross rental income for the year and then decides if you are required to join MTD.

Preparing for the changes

The experts also offered clear advice on preparing for what's ahead, advising you to

• Review your 2024-25 tax position now to understand when you'll need to start Making Tax Digital reporting in April 2026
• Keep separate bank accounts for rental income and expenses to make quarterly reporting simpler
• Consider the long-term structure of your portfolio – partnerships and limited companies may offer routes to greater tax efficiency
• Respond to the mansion tax consultation when it opens in January, particularly if you own HMOs or multi-let buildings

Get support

Our policy team continues to campaign on these issues with Treasury officials and have  comprehensive guidance on Making Tax Digital for income tax, which is available here.

The NRLA has recently updated its Portfolio management platform for members to include Open Banking, allowing all income and expenditure to be tagged and categorised ready for self-assessment or MTD submissions - with the platform to be fully MTD ready by the April 2026 deadline. For more information or a demonstration log-in to your account and look for the ‘P’ by your account details in the top-right of the screen. 

You can also sign up for our exclusive MTD eClassroom course. Run by expert tax trainers at our award-winning training academy the course will run through everything you need to be MTD ready, with lots of practical tips and advice on how to make the transition as smooth as possible. For information and to book click here.

If you registered for the webinar, but were unable to attend for one reason or another, you should have received a link where you can watch it.