What Is SA105 Form? UK Property Income and Self Assessment Explained

---

If you receive income from property in the UK, you may need to tell HMRC about it through Self Assessment, and one of the forms you are likely to come across is the SA105 form. The name can make it sound more complicated than it really is, because SA105 is simply the property section of a Self Assessment tax return and is used to give HMRC details of income and expenses from UK property.

What Is SA105 Form?

The SA105 form is the UK property supplementary page of a Self Assessment tax return. It is used when you need to report income from land or property in the UK to HMRC.

The SA105 does not normally stand on its own as a separate tax return. Instead, it forms part of your main Self Assessment return, known as the SA100. If you want to understand how the main return works, you can read my guide explaining the SA100 form and Self Assessment.

You may need to complete the property section if, for example, you rent out a house or flat, receive income from a holiday property, let out part of your home, or receive other taxable income from UK land or property.

The form asks for information about the income you received during the tax year and the expenses or allowances that can be taken into account when calculating your taxable property profit.

This is important because you do not normally pay Income Tax on the total rent that comes into your bank account. Your tax calculation is generally based on your taxable property profit after applying the relevant allowable expenses, allowances and tax rules.

For example, if you received £14,000 of rental income during the year and had £3,000 of allowable property expenses, these figures would be used as part of calculating the profit that needs to be reported to HMRC.

The exact calculation can become more complicated where there are mortgage interest costs, jointly owned properties, losses brought forward from previous years, private use of the property, the property allowance, or other special circumstances.

If your property income is relatively small, it is also worth checking whether you can use the property allowance. You can read more about this in my guide to the UK property allowance.

SA105 Form

The SA105 form contains the information HMRC needs to calculate the property income that should be included in your overall Self Assessment tax calculation.

Depending on your circumstances, you may need to provide details of your total rents and other property income, allowable expenses, property losses and other adjustments that affect your taxable property profit.

Typical expenses connected with running a rental property can include items such as letting agent fees, insurance, repairs and maintenance, accountancy costs relating to the rental business, and certain other costs incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the property business.

However, not every payment connected with a property can simply be deducted from rental income. There is an important difference between normal running and repair costs and capital expenditure, such as certain improvements to the property, and residential mortgage interest is also subject to specific tax rules rather than simply being deducted in the same way as an ordinary expense.

This is why it is useful to keep clear records throughout the year rather than trying to reconstruct everything when your tax return is due. You should normally keep records of rent received, invoices, receipts, letting agent statements, insurance costs, repair bills and relevant mortgage information.

If you own more than one UK rental property, the income and expenses will generally form part of the same UK property business for tax purposes, although there are situations where different rules can apply.

You should also remember that completing SA105 does not necessarily mean you will have tax to pay. Your final tax position depends on your property profit together with your other taxable income, available allowances and your individual circumstances.

SA105 Tax Return

People sometimes refer to an “SA105 tax return”, but technically SA105 is not the complete tax return. It is the supplementary property section that accompanies the main Self Assessment return.

When you complete Self Assessment online, you may not actually see a document labelled SA105 in the same way as you would on a paper return. Instead, HMRC’s online system asks questions about your circumstances and then presents the relevant property income sections for you to complete.

You enter your property figures, and these are combined with the rest of your Self Assessment information, which could include employment income, self-employment, savings, dividends, Capital Gains Tax and other sources of taxable income.

If you have rental income that should have been reported in previous tax years but was missed, simply putting all of the old income onto your latest SA105 is generally not the correct way to fix the problem. Previous years may need to be dealt with separately, depending on how old they are and the circumstances involved.

HMRC has a specific disclosure route called the Let Property Campaign for many landlords who need to bring previously undeclared rental income up to date. You can read my guide explaining how to declare previous years’ rental income if this applies to you.

The main thing to remember is that SA105 is the part of Self Assessment used to report UK property income. If you are a landlord or receive other taxable income from UK property, the figures from your property business need to be included correctly so HMRC can calculate your overall Income Tax position.

If you are unsure whether you need to complete the property section, which expenses you can claim, or how to calculate your rental profit, it is important to get the figures right before submitting your tax return, as mistakes can lead to problems with HMRC later. If you need help with your property income or Self Assessment tax return, consider contacting a qualified accountant who can check your figures, explain what you can claim and make sure your tax return is completed correctly.

---