Somewhat different strategies are required depending upon whether the investor is or is not UK resident. If a non-resident whether an individual, a company or a trust owns UK property, then the general income tax law requires the tenant (or letting agent) to withhold 22% tax from rents and pay that over directly to HMRC. The landlord can get around this by appointing a UK agent to file annual rental accounts with HMRC, but irrespective of where the landlord is resident, rental profits are taxable (except for certain tax privileged entities such as charities and approved pension funds). It is possible for a non-resident landlord to structure their investment in a way that will result a little or no tax on rents, even if over time these rise significantly.

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