Insights

Sector-specific tax and accounting analysis

We are the UK's only dedicated accounting practice focused exclusively on short-term let and holiday let operators. These are the tax and compliance issues we handle daily, written up for the operators handling them themselves.

All Tax VAT Compliance Wales Scotland

★ Featured30 September 2026·9 min read

The Scottish Visitor Levy: The Accounting Complications the Scheme Design Has Handed Operators

Edinburgh's levy went live on 24 July 2026, Highland is consulting, Glasgow and Aberdeen are queued for 2027. VAT treatment, platform remittance and the mismatch between VisitScotland's 'may or may not' guidance and Edinburgh Council's insistence on gross are the operator-facing pain points. The ASSC's fixed-rate alternative — the model Highland has adopted — would solve most of them.

By STL Accounting and Finance

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18 September 2026·7 min read

The 100% Council Tax Premium on English Second Homes: The Arithmetic That Now Forces Every STL Owner to Choose

As of April 2026, roughly 84% of English billing authorities apply a 100% council tax premium on furnished second homes. For STL owners the choice is now binary — meet the 70/140-day business rates threshold, or pay double.

#Council Tax #Business Rates #England

12 September 2026·9 min read

The Furnished Holiday Let Regime, One Full Tax Year On: What Your Return Actually Looks Like Now

The FHL regime was abolished with effect from 6 April 2025. The first full year of self-assessments under the new rules has now been submitted. This is what the numbers actually looked like, where the biggest cash-flow surprises landed, and what operators should be doing now to soften the second year.

#FHL #Tax #HMRC

10 September 2026·8 min read

Business Property Relief From April 2026: What the £2.5m Cap Means for STL Portfolio Succession

From 6 April 2026 the 100% inheritance tax relief on qualifying business property is capped at £2.5m combined with agricultural relief, with the excess dropping to 50%. Combined with the FHL abolition, most STL portfolios now have no BPR at all — and succession planning needs a rebuild.

#IHT #BPR #Succession #Structuring

8 September 2026·8 min read

The January Tax Bill on July Income: The STL Cash-Flow Shock Nobody Warns You About

STL income is heavily seasonal but the tax bill is not. This is why so many operators arrive at January underfunded, what the payment-on-account arithmetic actually does to the shape of the year, and the discipline that fixes it.

#Cash Flow #Tax #HMRC

5 September 2026·7 min read

The Welsh Visitor Levy: The Accounting Mechanics Operators Need to Set Up Now

The Welsh visitor levy will come into force in individual local authority areas from 2027 at the earliest. This is what STL operators in Wales need to have set up before the first authority switches it on: booking-level rate capture, VAT treatment on the levy itself, remittance schedule, and integration with the register.

#Wales #Visitor Levy #VAT

28 August 2026·7 min read

DAC7 in Practice: HMRC Now Holds Line-by-Line Airbnb and Booking.com Data on 4 Million UK Sellers

The second annual DAC7 platform data drop landed with HMRC in January 2026 — 3.99 million sellers reported, a 272% jump on year one. If your self-assessment does not reconcile against the numbers your platforms sent HMRC, you should assume a nudge letter is coming.

#DAC7 #HMRC #Compliance #Airbnb

22 August 2026·7 min read

Chart of Accounts for a Short-Term Let Business: What Good Looks Like

Most STL bookkeeping we inherit is a variation of the same theme: gross bookings and platform fees netted off, one line per payout, no per-property split. This is the chart-of-accounts structure that produces a useful set of numbers instead.

#Bookkeeping #Best Practice #Structuring

20 August 2026·7 min read

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Hit STL Owners in April 2026: What the First Quarter Actually Required

MTD ITSA began phased introduction from April 2026. Individual STL owners over the qualifying income threshold now have quarterly digital reporting obligations to HMRC. Six months in, this is what the compliance work has actually looked like - and where operators who tried to DIY have run into trouble.

#MTD #HMRC #Compliance

15 August 2026·7 min read

The VAT Threshold Trap for Growing STL Portfolios: The Cliff Edge Nobody Warned You About

The £90,000 VAT registration threshold catches out more STL operators than any other tax cliff edge. This piece sets out how the threshold applies to STL income specifically, why serviced accommodation makes it worse, and the four options operators have when they see the threshold approaching.

#VAT #Portfolio #Tax Planning

13 August 2026·8 min read

HMRC Nudge Letters Are Landing on STL Operators: What to Do in the 90 Days You Have to Respond

HMRC sent over 10,000 nudge letters to landlords in 2025 and the pace is accelerating in 2026, with STL operators specifically targeted using DAC7 platform data. The right response depends on which type of letter you received. The wrong response is expensive.

#HMRC #Let Property Campaign #Compliance

12 August 2026·8 min read

Xero vs QuickBooks vs FreeAgent for STL Operators: A Sector-Specific Comparison

Every cloud accounting tool is MTD-compliant. That is not the same as being useful for a short-term let business. This is how the three most common options compare on the criteria that actually matter to an STL operator.

#Bookkeeping #MTD #Software

30 July 2026·9 min read

Refinancing an STL Portfolio in H2 2026: What Lenders Now Ask For That They Did Not Two Years Ago

Around 1.8 million UK fixed-rate mortgages roll off in 2026, many held by STL landlords. The lender criteria they will face on remortgage are materially tighter than the ones they signed up under. This is what the accounts and evidence pack should look like.

#Cash Flow #Finance #Structuring

22 July 2026·7 min read

VAT and STL Income: The Cleaning Fee, Platform Fee, and Guest-Charge Mistakes Generalist Accountants Keep Making

STL income sits in an awkward corner of the VAT rules. Cleaning fees follow the stay. Platform commissions are recoverable input VAT. Guest-charged extras have their own liability. Generalist accountants routinely get all three wrong.

#VAT #Airbnb #Booking.com

15 July 2026·9 min read

Buying Your Next STL: SDLT, LBTT and LTT Across the UK - the Surcharges That Change the Deal

Every UK nation has raised the tax on additional-dwelling purchases in the last two years. This is what an operator now pays to acquire in England, Scotland or Wales, and the structural decisions to make before completion.

#Structuring #SDLT #Scotland #Wales

10 July 2026·8 min read

Business Rates vs Council Tax After the 2026 Revaluation: The Numbers Are Not What They Were

The 2026 non-domestic rates revaluation has moved the arithmetic. For STL operators in Scotland, the previously reliable answer - stay on business rates, claim Small Business Bonus - is no longer automatically the best answer. This is how to work out which rating gives you the lower bill for your specific property.

#Business Rates #Council Tax #Scotland

28 June 2026·9 min read

Selling Your STL: The Pre-Sale Accounting Work That Adds to the Price and Reduces the CGT Hit

Post-FHL, an operator selling an STL faces higher-rate CGT rather than the 10% BADR rate that used to apply. The pre-sale accounting work that used to be optional is now decisive - both on the buyer's price and on the seller's tax bill.

#Structuring #CGT #Tax

25 June 2026·8 min read

Limited Company or Sole Trader for Your STL Post-FHL? The Arithmetic Has Shifted

The abolition of the FHL regime has moved the tax gap between running an STL as a sole trader and running it through a limited company. For portfolios of any real size, the Ltd route now saves more tax than it did under the old regime - but the transition costs are real and the fit depends heavily on your borrowing structure.

#Structuring #Ltd Company #Sole Trader #Tax Planning

20 June 2026·8 min read

Capital Gains Tax on STL Disposal After FHL Abolition: The Number Every Operator Considering Exit Now Needs to Model

The abolition of the FHL regime removed the 10% Business Asset Disposal Relief route on holiday let sales. From April 2026 BADR itself rises from 14% to 18%, and residential-property CGT sits at 24% for higher-rate taxpayers. For a portfolio exit the differences are five and six figures.

#CGT #FHL #Disposal #BADR