Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many landlords in the UK are currently persons of interest to HM Revenue and Customs.

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Customer Compliance Group (CCG) are responsible for the majority of the enforcement and compliance type activity and have carried out successful campaign activity in the rental sector, however HMRC are unable to answer the specific question without incurring disproportionate costs.

HMRC launched the Let Property Campaign in 2013; it is focused on the residential property letting market. It aims to help landlords to get their tax right from day one, keeping them on track, and offering an opportunity to address previous errors. It is highly successful at both providing educational material to prevent tax loss and enabling landlords to bring their affairs up to date. It has raised over £115m in additional tax, interest and penalties to December 2016.