Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will give HMRC the resources to discover and tax undeclared private landlords rather than rely on a voluntary scheme of disclosure.

The Government is committed to reducing non-compliance in the tax system among all taxpayers, including landlords, and continues to give HMRC the resources they need to tackle the tax gap.

Since 2013-14, HMRC’s Let Property Campaign has prompted approximately 58,000 additional disclosures and raised an estimated £254 million in additional compliance yield for the Exchequer.

HMRC do not rely on voluntary disclosure from landlords and use a range of data and approaches to identify landlords with undeclared rental income. Where landlords do not come forward to declare their rental income, after being prompted, HMRC take further steps including opening formal compliance interventions where necessary.