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Air B and B'in a room in your boat


boater123

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It doesn't matter if you live in it or not.

 

Taking money/payment = business use.

Business use = a whole raft of different rules, regulations, licences and insurance.

 

Short answer to your question - Yes !

Your answer is commonsensical. But I'm not sure if it's correct. I recall reading (and it surprised me) that if you let out a room in your dwelling (generally a house or flat) then the rules are quite light, indeed I'm not even sure if you have to declare the earnings for tax. So if your dwelling is a boat, I am not sure if there is a difference.

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Your answer is commonsensical. But I'm not sure if it's correct. I recall reading (and it surprised me) that if you let out a room in your dwelling (generally a house or flat) then the rules are quite light, indeed I'm not even sure if you have to declare the earnings for tax. So if your dwelling is a boat, I am not sure if there is a difference.

 

If you live on a boat you are classed as Homeless, its not a dwelling.

 

Tim

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If you live on a boat you are classed as Homeless, its not a dwelling.

 

Tim

I very much doubt that. Just because it's afloat does not mean that it isn't a dwelling. In any case, even in the event that it is so, no one could object to your renting out part of your dwelling, because you wouldn't have a dwelling, so there would be no case to answer.

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As far as HMRC are concerned the boat must be a "houseboat" as defined below:

 

A houseboat which is permanently located on a site and connected to all mains services may be regarded as a dwelling house. If the houseboat has been used as an immobile residence for a period of 6 months or more and has had all of its engines removed it should be regarded as a dwelling house.

 

To be taxed as UK property income (also to be a PPR for CGT) it needs to be immobile per above otherwise any income is taxed as trading income.

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The question came up when a journalist wrote about letting out space on her narrowboat in London as way of generating extra income through AirBnB. She was rapidly reminded by CRT that this wasn't within her power to do without incurring additional cost and responsibilities. So, yes, it does have an impact on your licence, BSC and your insurance.

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I think this was the original article.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/13/airbnb-ethos-property-rental

 

The changes announced in the budget would allow £1,000 profit to be generated on internet trading income without paying tax from April 2017 onwards, however I am pretty sure that CRT would continue to treat it as a trade as far as licences etc. are concerned.,

 

This is separate from the proposed £1,000 allowance for internet property rentals and the current rent-a-room allowance of £4,250 (going up to £7,500 in April) which only apply to property income (i.e. "houseboats").

Edited by Mal in Somerset
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surely you could get away with it though, how would they know?

 

How will anyone know you have a room for rent ?

 

Will you advertise it ?

Air BnB ?

General internet tourist places ?

 

That's where C&RT have found other people renting boats / rooms and apparently taken action.

London is a real hot-spot for C&RT enforcement - elsewhere around the country you may not be 'spotted' - in London you most likely will.

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The onlyest (?) way in which one could get away with it is if no money is seen to change hands - i.e. no written contract, no receipts given for payments. Fine until one day the tenant - whoops sorry, friend who's staying over - really does stop the money changing hands, at which point one has no legal recourse.

Edited by Athy
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As far as HMRC are concerned the boat must be a "houseboat" as defined below:

 

A houseboat which is permanently located on a site and connected to all mains services may be regarded as a dwelling house. If the houseboat has been used as an immobile residence for a period of 6 months or more and has had all of its engines removed it should be regarded as a dwelling house.[/size]

 

To be taxed as UK property income (also to be a PPR for CGT) it needs to be immobile per above otherwise any income is taxed as trading income.[/size]

If income taxed then a lot of deductables will be allowed. It could quite easily show no profit on paper for a number of years so going this route could work.
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You might want to consider 3rd party liability for the occasion when the paying guest slips on the gunwale, cracks their head on the deck, ends up in the cut, and want to claim damages.

Oh, but that's not a paying guest, it's my friend who's staying with me at the moment (who can, I believe, still make a claim, but the lack of commerciality would make that claim weaker in the eyes of the law).

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You might want to consider 3rd party liability for the occasion when the paying guest slips on the gunwale, cracks their head on the deck, ends up in the cut, and want to claim damages.

If run as legit business you would have insurance for this.

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Can't be much different from Hotel boats can it? And they exist, so it can't be as difficult to get sorted legitimately as the doom merchants on here would have you believe.

 

The best people to ask would be CRT.

Correct, if you're onboard then it counts as hotel boat. But have you seen the rules and regs for hotel boats? You need a boatmasters ticket for a start.

Thing is CRT rules and regs just don't match up with how people use their boats, now.

There was someone renting bunks on their nb for £30 a night (seemed to be permanently in Paddington basin), so that would definitely count as a hotel boat. But like all of these enterprising types, the business doesn't last, the business depends on mooring in the touristy areas and new CRT guidelines mean they aren't cruisiing enough and they don't get a new license when the time comes.

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