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Paying rent into UK personal bank account
I am retired and live in France and have rental properties in London. I opened a small business account with Barclays while I lived in the UK to deal with consultancy work I had and continued the account with rent being paid into it. Barclays now says it is closing business accounts held by people outside the UK but I can keep my personal account. However, it says I cannot pay the rent into it as it is not a salary. Is this right? S.L.
The general position is that a business bank account should be used only for the business for which the account was opened.
However, where this account is in a personal name, to cover for example self-employment, it can be used again for another business activity.
The closure of business accounts for non-residents is becoming more common as a means of preventing tax fraud because if a person is resident in one country, it is difficult to see that they could have a full-time business in another country while not also being a resident of that other country.
Rental income is generally seen fiscally as investment income unless done on a professional basis, so one option may be to ask the bank to open a second personal account for your rental properties.
One would, in any case, expect rental income to be credited to a personal account, unless, as stated, the activity is effected on a professional basis.
There is no legal reason why rental income cannot be credited to a personal account, nor why only salary can be, so perhaps query this with someone else within the bank or a different branch.
Reader's query answered byHugh MacDonald
The Connexion welcomes queries and regularly publishes a selection with answers. However, please note that we cannot enter into individual correspondence on money topics. Queries may be edited for length and style. Due to the sensitive nature of topics we do not publish full names or addresses on these pages. Send your financial query tonews@connexionfrance.com
The information here is of a general nature. You should not act or refrain from acting on it without taking professional advice on the specific facts of your case. No liability is accepted in respect of these articles. These articles are intended only as a general guide. Nothing herein constitutes actual financial advice
