A petition calling for the reinstatement of mortgage interest tax relief has received more than 13,700 signatures and counting.
It is calling on the government to reverse the Section 28 tax change which had ended a landlord’s right to offset mortgage interest against tax.
Before Section 24 was introduced in 2017, landlords were able to deduct mortgage interest from their income tax. At the time it was also possible to offset mortgage application fees and some other loans.
Now tax is payable on all rental income upfront, even if – combined with an income from a traditional job – it moves the landlord into a higher tax bracket.
Instead, landlords now have only a basic rate reduction from their income tax liability for their finance costs of 20%.
The petition, on the Parliamentary website, is by Midlands landlord Simon J Foster.
It states: “We want the government to reinstate the ability of landlords to set the full amount of mortgage interest against rental income, before tax is calculated.
“Unless the ability to offset mortgage interest against rental income is reinstated I will like many be forced to sell my properties. This could reduce the amount of properties available on the private rental market.”
If the petition gets more than 100,000 signatures it would be considered for debate in parliament.
You can sign the petition here.