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Posted Fri, 12 Jan 2024 14:17:15 GMT by silverhow
I am helping my wife complete her tax return for a couple of properties she rents out. In the 2022/23 tax year, there was serious water damage to one of the properties, which caused significant damage to the floor and necessitated the complete replacement of the kitchen. The cost of this was around £8,000 and she received what I regard as a very small insurance payout of around £1,400. Basically, they reimbursed the cost of fixing the floor but not for replacing the kitchen. Probably we cannot now challenge this - but we are considering trying to re-open the case. I have three queries, please: (1) I presume she can offset the like for like kichen replacement cost against the rental income - but how should she treat the insurance payout? Should it just be deducted from the total repairs and maintenance costs? (2) The total repairs and maintence bill plus other allowable costs come to slightly more than the income for the property leading to a small net loss for the year. However, my wife owns a second property and normally reports the figures for both of them together. So can she offset the loss on one property against the profits on the other, or does the loss have to be carried over? (3) If my wife succeeds in re-opening the insurance claim and receives a payout in a later tax year, how should she report this? As rental income for that tax year or as a deduction in "repairs and maintenance" again.
Posted Tue, 16 Jan 2024 09:52:49 GMT by HMRC Admin 8 Response
Hi,
In relation to question 1 & 3 you should visit PIM2110 This states any insurance payouts received should be set off against the repair costs incurred. However you have another option at PIM2040 which states you can deduct the repairs as an expense and include the insurance payout as a receipt This would answer question 3.
With regards to question 2 - losses - Losses from one property can be set against profits of another rental property if they form part of the same business.This generally means unless held in a different legal capacity, please see PIM1020 
PIM4205 explains losses.
Thankyou 

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