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In these difficult economic times, tenants may struggle to pay their rent, leaving landlords out of pocket. In the absence of insurance that makes good the cost of unpaid rent, the way in which the landlord is able to secure relief for the bad debt depends on whether the landlord uses the cash basis or the accruals basis to prepare their accounts.

Cash basis

The cash basis is a simple way of preparing accounts that is based on money in and money out. It is the default basis of accounts preparation for most unincorporated landlords with annual rental income of £150,000 or less.

Under the cash basis, income is only taken into account when it is received, and relief is only given for expenses when they are paid. This methodology provides automatic relief for bad debts as if the rent is not received, it is not taken into account in calculating the rental profit.

If the rent is received at a later date or the landlord is able to recover some or all of the unpaid rent through an insurance policy, it is simply brought into account as a receipt of the property rental business on the date that it is received.

Accruals basis

Landlords may use the accruals basis if they are not eligible for the cash basis, as may be the case if their annual rental income exceeds £150,000 or they operate their property business through a limited company. A landlord who is eligible to use the cash basis may elect to use the accruals basis instead.

Under the accruals basis, income and expenditure are matched to the period to which they relate, regardless of whether it has received or paid out. This is done by taking account of debtors, creditors, prepayments and accruals.

Where the accruals basis is used and the rent is unpaid, the rent for the period would be taken into account in calculating the profit for that period, and the balance sheet would show a debtor for the unpaid rent.

However, the tax legislation provides relief for bad and doubtful debts. Relief is given as a deduction when it becomes clear that the debt is bad or doubtful. Where a tenant is slow to pay but eventually pays, no relief is available – the rent is still taken into account for the period to which it relates regardless of when it is actually received.

It used to be possible to report errors in a VAT return to HMRC on form VAT652. This is no longer the case; form VAT652 was withdrawn from 5 September 2025. This means that now, where an error has been made in a VAT return, the error must be corrected in one of the following ways:

• updating the next VAT return;
• making the correction online; or
• writing to HMRC to notify them of the correction.

Updating the next VAT return

An error can be corrected by making an adjustment in the next VAT return if the value of the error is £10,000 or less or if the error is between £10,000 and £50,000 and does not exceed 1% of the box 6 figure (net outputs) in the VAT return for the period in which the error was discovered.

A correction can only be made by updating the next VAT return if the error was made carelessly.

The net value of the error is the difference between the additional amount owed to HMRC as a result of the error and the additional refund due from HMRC as a result of the error.

Correcting the error online

If the value of the error is more than £50,000, is between £10,000 and £50,000 and more than 1% of the box 6 figure in the VAT return  for the period in which the error was discovered or was made deliberately, it must be notified to HMRC rather than being corrected in the next VAT return. The default route for doing this is to make the correction online. The trader will need to sign into their Government Gateway account.

When reporting the error online, the following information must be provided:

• how each error arose;
• the VAT accounting period in which it occurred;
• whether it was an input tax error or an output tax error;
• the VAT underdeclared or overdeclared in each VAT period;
• how the VAT over or under declaration was calculated;
• whether any of the errors resulted in the payment of an amount to HMRC that was not due; and
• the total amount to be adjusted.

Refund claims can only be accepted where all the above information is provided.

Notifying in writing

If the trader is unable to use the online service, they will need to notify HMRC in writing of the errors if they are of a type that cannot be corrected in the next VAT return. The letter must include the trader’s VAT registration number and the information listed above. It should be sent by post to:

BT VAT

HMRC

BX9 1WR

Time limit

Errors should be corrected as soon as possible, but time limits do apply.

The time limit for correcting errors in a VAT return is four years from the end of the prescribed period in which the error occurred where the error related to output tax or over-claimed input tax, and four years from the due date of the return for the prescribed accounting period where the error related to under-claimed input tax.

The four-year time limit does not apply to deliberate errors.