The Section 24 parliamentary petition, which sought to persuade MPs to reinstate mortgage interest tax relief for landlords, has fallen short of its 100,000 target.
The petition, set up by Midlands-based landlord Simon J Foster, urged the government to reverse the Section 24 tax change.
It closed on May 10 with only just over 40,000 signatures. It needed 100,000 to have triggered a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Before Section 24 was introduced in 2017, landlords were able to deduct mortgage interest from their income tax. At that 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%.
In response to the petition the government said: “The government will continue to set mortgage interest relief against rental income at the basic rate of tax. The government has a responsibility to make sure the income tax system is fair.”
Sheldon Bosley Knight’s associate director, Nik Kyriacou said: “It’s a real shame the petition did not manage to cross the threshold required to force a parliamentary debate on the issue.
“However, we can only hope the government takes heed of all those who did sign it as a recognition it is something which is an incredibly important issue for landlords.”