Property Accounting and Tax Services

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Alliotts provides accounting, tax and compliance support for people and businesses involved in property, including buy-to-let landlords, property investors, developers, real estate funds, property management companies and residential management agents. Services cover tax planning (including Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings and high-value residential property rules), bookkeeping, VAT, statutory accounts, service charge accounts, and cross-border support through Alliott Global Alliance (international network of accountants and lawyers). Clients range from first-time landlords to major private equity real estate funds.

Why property needs specialist advice

Property comes with more red tape than most people expect. Tax rules change depending on how a property is owned, whether it is held personally or through a company, and whether the owner lives in the UK or overseas. Getting this wrong can be expensive, so most property owners and investors prefer the advice of an accountant who already knows the sector rather than dealing with the rules themselves.

Alliotts works across the full range of property ownership, from an individual with a couple of buy-to-let flats, to renovators flipping houses, to land developers, right up to portfolio landlords with dozens of units. Our advice is tailored to the size and structure of what someone owns, with the aim of keeping things tax efficient without cutting corners.

Landlords, at home or abroad

Owning property involves admin, and that is before you factor in tax returns, VAT and compliance paperwork. Alliotts takes that burden off landlords’ hands. For those with property overseas, or overseas investors with UK property, we can work through the Alliott Global Alliance, which gives access to advisors in major commercial centres around the world who understand local tax rules.

High-value residential property

Anyone buying, or already owning, a residential property worth more than £500,000 needs to check whether extra tax charges apply. This gets more complicated again if the property sits inside a company or partnership structure, since different rules apply. Alliotts helps clients work through this so they are paying only what is due.

Support in this area includes:

• Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED)
• Personal, company and international tax
• VAT
• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Company structure advice

Real estate funds

Alliotts works with a wide range of clients in the sector, including some of the larger private equity real estate funds. Specialist teams handle the routine, day-to-day work such as cash management and international tax advice, but they are equally comfortable stepping in when something unusual comes up.

Area of work	What it covers
Day-to-day finance	Bookkeeping, management accounting and reporting, cash flow reports
Statutory and tax	Statutory accounts and audit support, corporate tax returns, non-resident landlord income tax returns, VAT compliance and quarterly filing
Cash management	Preparing supplier payments, weekly cash reports, maintaining statutory books of UK companies
Deals and transactions	Support with acquisitions and disposals, reconciliation statements, liaison with purchasers’ advisors, completion accounts
Cross-border support	Assistance on deals in other countries, information for overseas accountants (including Sarl structures), overseas VAT return support
Banking	Preparation of compliance certificates for banks in respect of loans

Property management back-up

Residential property owners, lessees and management companies need to keep on top of compliance, and the guidance around this is not always clear. Alliotts helps make sure nothing gets missed.

For owners and lessees, this includes:

• Service charge accounts
• Certification of service charge accounts
• Preparation and submission of trust tax returns
• Service charge budget reviews

For property management companies and their directors, it includes:

• Statutory company accounts
• Filing of accounts with Companies House
• Preparation and submission of Corporation Tax returns
• Statutory audit of annual accounts
• Corporate services, including maintaining records and registers and dealing with share certificates

Residential property management agents

Agents working in this space have their own set of hoops to jump through. Alliotts can review client accounting systems and controls to check they meet the standards set by regulatory bodies and can provide an independent accountant’s report where one is needed for bodies such as ARMA, Propertymark (ARLA and NAEA).

Support for agents covers:

• Payroll
• Bookkeeping
• Management accounts
• Budgets
• Service charge demands
• Payments of supplier accounts
• Client accounting records

Frequently asked questions

What is ATED and does it apply to me?

Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings is a charge that applies to UK residential property worth more than £500,000 that is owned through a company or certain other non-natural persons. Not every corporate structure ends up paying the charge, since reliefs are available for genuine letting businesses and other qualifying activities, but a return usually still needs to be filed to claim them.

Do I need a specialist accountant if I only own one or two rental properties?

It is not compulsory, but property tax rules change fairly often and small mistakes, particularly around what counts as a repair versus an improvement, can be costly. Even a small portfolio benefits from someone checking the structure and paperwork are right from the start.

How does buying through a company change the tax position?

Company ownership changes how profits, gains and high-value property charges are taxed, and it can also affect ATED liability. Whether it makes sense depends on your personal tax position, your plans for the property and how you intend to fund the purchase, so this is worth discussing before you buy rather than after.

What is a service charge account and why does it need certifying?

A service charge account sets out how money collected from leaseholders has been spent on the upkeep of a building. Many leases require these accounts to be independently certified so leaseholders can be confident the figures are accurate, and this is a common piece of work for management companies and freeholders.

What is an independent accountant’s report for ARMA, ARLA or NAEA?

It is a report confirming that a managing agent’s client accounting systems and controls meet the standards required by that regulatory body. It gives landlords and leaseholders assurance that client money is being handled properly.

Can you help with property investments outside the UK?

Yes, through the Alliott Global Alliance network we can bring in advisors with local knowledge in a range of countries, either for UK residents investing abroad or for overseas investors putting money into UK property.

Do real estate funds need a different type of accounting support to individual landlords?

Largely yes. Funds tend to need more structured reporting, audit support and cross-border coordination given the number of investors and jurisdictions typically involved, whereas individual landlords are usually more focused on personal tax efficiency and compliance. Our teams are set up to handle both.