A reminder that furnished holiday lettings may be affected by three major taxation changes.  Two changes apply from April 2011.  The first of these is that the profit or loss from a FHL in an EEA country other than the UK (European Economic Area is the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) has to be calculated separately from a profit or loss arising from UK holiday lettings.  Profits and losses from outwith the EEA also have to be calculated separately.  Also from 2011 it will no longer be possible to set a loss made from FHL properties in the UK or overseas against other income to generate a tax repayment.  As from April 2012 the periods that a property may be let to qualify for the FHL tax reliefs are to be extended.   These changes are likely to mean that some FHL businesses will no longer be profitable.

Tax reliefs for charities and donors were worth £3.34bn in 2010/11,according to HM Revenue & Customs.

Figures published last week show charities received £2.56bn in tax relief, up from £2.48bn 2009/10.

The figures include £1.1bn in Gift Aid, up from £1.03bn in the previous year, and £1.16bn in business rate relief, up from £1.14bn in the previous year. Reliefs for donors rose to £780m from £740m.  The largest personal reliefs were inheritance tax relief, up to £340m from £320m in the previous year, and higher-rate relief on Gift Aid, up to £350m from £330m.

VAT reliefs were estimated to be worth £200m, but this figure is rounded to the nearest £50m and has remained unchanged since 2003.  Third Sector online 5 May 2011