Buy-to-Let Accounting: The Practical Guide
Cash basis vs accruals
Individual landlords with rental income under £150k default to the cash basis — record income when received, expenses when paid. Companies use accruals. The cash basis is simpler for most portfolios.
Section 24 in one paragraph
Individual landlords no longer deduct mortgage interest as an expense — instead they get a 20% tax credit. For higher-rate taxpayers this pushes effective tax up by 15–25 points on interest. Companies still deduct interest in full.
Capital vs revenue in works
A boiler swap is revenue. A first-time central heating install is capital. A kitchen refit is capital. A single unit replacement in a kitchen is revenue. The split affects both this year's tax and the future CGT bill.
Landvale's BTL accounting model
Landvale ships with a BTL-native chart of accounts, applies Section 24 automatically to the tax estimate, and flags capital-vs-revenue borderline items for review. Live P&L per property, per portfolio.
