Just like any other business owner, property owners have to meet their tax obligations. They have to give a certain percentage of the money they collect from their properties to the government in form of taxes. This calls for proper bookkeeping to ensure they comply with the relevant taxation policies. Are you a property owner living abroad? How do you ensure you pay your property taxes while living out of the country? This article will help you out.
KEEP PROPER RECORDS
The first thing to ensure tax compliance is to keep proper records. This should include all the expenses that your incur from your properties. Doing this will not only help to determine how much you’re supposed to pay as taxes, but also enable you to pay them on time. Failure to pay your taxes on time will attract additional charges and, thus, reduce the profit you make from your properties.
USE AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM
Being far away from your property will make you vulnerable to forget to keep records of important transactions. This is especially true for small expenses incurred by your business. Using an automated system will remedy this situation. It will help you to keep track of everything in your business with your absence not being an issue.
To automate your system, simple accounting software will do. Similarly, you can use Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
ATTEND HTC WORKSHOP
Being away from your country should not make you unable to pay your taxes to the government. However, you’ll be more prone to fail to remit taxes due to your absence. You may also not be able to get updates to property taxation policies in your country. Attending HMRC workshops will go a long way in helping you.
HMRC workshops will keep you updated with the latest changes in taxation. You’ll also get to know of the non-resident landlord scheme that was devised for people like you. Through this scheme, your tax obligations will be met by either your tenants or an appointed agent. This way, you’ll remain tax compliant without having to take much responsibility.
SAVE FOR TAX
You may have put in place enough measures to determine the amount you should pay to the government. However, you may be tempted to spend the money. This will mean that you’ll not be able to pay your taxes in time which would attract fines and penalties leading to a reduction of your profits.
Saving part of your profits will remedy this problem. Of all the money you collect from your properties, save about 30% to go into paying taxes.
CONCLUSION
Moving to a country away from where you invested in property could be challenging. You may find yourself unable to track your business expenses and, therefore, fail to pay taxes on time. This shouldn’t be the case. This article has shared tips on how to go about this and avoid the fines and penalties that come with late payment of taxes.