Property income on your CT600: rent, expenses and property losses
Short version. SimpleCompanyTax supports rental income from UK property. In the profit and loss section of the wizard, select “Add income from property (rent)” and enter one net figure: rent received minus allowable letting costs, including any mortgage or loan interest on the property. We report it in box 190 of the CT600 and show it as “Income from property” in your accounts. If the letting made a loss, use the +/− toggle to make the figure negative and we handle the loss rules (box 250) for you, including losses brought forward from earlier years. If the company sold a property at a profit, that is a capital gain rather than rental income, and simple gains are supported too. See our capital gains article.
How rental income is taxed for a company
When a limited company lets out UK property, the rent is not trading income. HMRC taxes it separately as UK property business income, in its own box on the CT600 (box 190). It is still charged at the normal Corporation Tax rates, and it counts towards your total profits alongside any trading profit and bank interest. You do not need to know any of the mechanics: enter the net figure and we put every number in the right box, including the case where property income pushes your total profits into a different tax band.
One company can have both a trade and rental income. Enter your trading figures as normal (turnover, cost of sales, expenses) and the property figure separately. Never include rent in your turnover.
Working out your net figure
We ask for a single net figure for the period, across all the properties the company lets:
Rent received minus allowable letting costs, which typically include: letting agent fees, repairs and maintenance (not improvements), landlord insurance, ground rent and service charges, advertising for tenants, and interest on a mortgage or loan used for the property.
Profits and losses on different properties net off against each other. If one flat made £8,000 and another lost £3,000, your net figure is £5,000.
Where mortgage interest goes
Companies get full relief for interest on property loans, and the place to put it is inside your net property figure: deduct it along with your other letting costs. Do not also enter it in the “Interest payable” field: that field is for other business borrowing, and entering property-loan interest in both places would claim the relief twice, which understates your tax. One figure, one place.
What to enter, scenario by scenario
| Your situation | What to enter in the wizard |
|---|---|
| Company only lets property (no trade) | Leave turnover and expenses at 0. Enter your net rental figure in Income from property. Fill in the balance sheet as normal. |
| Trading company that also lets a property | Enter trading figures as normal, then add the net rental figure in Income from property. Keep the two separate. Rent never goes in turnover. |
| The letting made a loss this year | Enter the net figure as a negative number using the +/− toggle. We set the loss against your other profits this year automatically, and carry anything unused forward. |
| Unused property losses from earlier years | Enter them in Property losses brought forward (in Tax adjustments, shown when the property row is open). We set them against this year’s total profits. If any of that pool arose before 6 April 2020, put that part in Property losses that arose before 6 April 2020 as well, because it follows stricter rules. |
| Rent plus bank interest | Bank interest still goes in Interest receivable as usual. The two are reported in their own boxes and both count towards your profits. |
| Property held but not let this year (no income, running costs) | That is usually a property loss: enter the costs as a negative net figure. Note the company is not dormant if it is incurring letting costs. |
Property losses
Property losses have their own rules, and they are more generous than trading losses. A loss from your UK letting is set against your company’s total profits for the same year (including trading profit and interest) automatically. Whatever cannot be used carries forward to future years, and brought-forward property losses are again set against total profits, subject to the pre-2020 limit below. We do all of this for you: the relief you claim this year goes in box 250, any loss that arose this year goes in box 805, and the full working is shown in the tax computation we file.
Your unused property losses are shown in the tax computation we produce, under “Losses carried forward to the next period”. Enter that figure next year in Property losses brought forward. Do not read it off box 805 of the CT600, because that box reports the loss that arose in the period, which is not the same as the amount still unused.
Two limits are worth knowing. The first is the date. Before 6 April 2020 companies paid Income Tax rather than Corporation Tax on UK property income, and losses left over from that era can only reduce property profits, never trading profit or interest. So if part of your brought forward pool is that old, enter that part in Property losses that arose before 6 April 2020 as well as in the total. It is a portion of the same pool, not an extra amount, and a mixed pool is normal. We use the older, more restricted part first, which is what HMRC’s manual at PIM4236 requires and also leaves you with the more flexible losses to carry forward. The second limit is that a brought-forward property loss can only be claimed while the company is still letting property, so if the letting business has ceased, speak to an accountant.
What we do not support
- Complex disposals. Selling a property at a profit is a capital gain rather than rental income, and simple gains are supported through the Chargeable gains fields (boxes 210 to 220). See selling a property or investment for how to compute and enter the gain, and for the disposals that still need an accountant (connected parties, exempt share sales, ATED or non-resident gains).
- Overseas property. We support UK property only. Rent from property outside the UK is an overseas property business with separate rules.
- Property development or trading. Buying property to renovate and sell is a trade, not a property business. Those sales are trading income, and a mixed development business needs advice beyond our scope.
- Furnished holiday lettings for periods before April 2025. The special FHL regime was abolished from 1 April 2025, so current periods are simply property income and work as described here. If you are filing an older period in which you claimed FHL treatment, speak to an accountant.
This article is general guidance, not tax advice. Whether a specific cost is allowable against rent can involve judgement (repairs versus improvements is the classic example). If you are unsure, check GOV.UK or speak to an accountant. See also which company types we support.
File your property company's return the right way
Enter one net rental figure and SimpleCompanyTax files box 190, the loss rules and your accounts correctly, from £25/year.