HMRC’s further guidance on the abolition of furnished holiday lets

As someone who took part in both in-person and video consultation discussions with the Treasury and HMRC in respect of the abolition of the furnished holiday letting (FHL) regime I was interested to read the HMRC policy paper ‘Clarification on the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime’ published on 7 November.

Having read it though my overwhelming feeling was one of disappointment. While the document at least engages with a number of areas of complexity in a very few words it either avoids the issues or simply re-states HMRC’s position.

Policy interpretation

HMRC’s view is that income from FHLs is property income and the special rules merely provide additional tax reliefs for FHL property businesses. As set out in my article ‘No way to run a tax system’ (Taxation 22 August 2024) I think that may...