I'm trying to do something similar to ukdave8283 but the advice given by Peter D seems to be at odds with some other information I've seen on this site.
This article :
http://www.taxationweb.co.uk/tax-articl ... ouses.html indicates the following (i've underlined the critical part):
"Where the spouses do not wish to be subject to income tax on an assumed 50:50 split, they can make a declaration of their respective beneficial interests in the income and the property from which the income arises, provided that the beneficial interests of the spouses in the property correspond to their beneficial interests in the income. Thus, in the above example, the spouses could make a declaration under which the rental income is to be split 75:25 in line with their respective ownership proportions.
However, it is important that the ownership proportions reflect reality i.e., if the above declaration is to be made then the spouses must own the property 75:25 which would mean ownership as tenants in common.
It is not possible for the declaration to decree that the income from the property is to be shared between the spouses in a different proportion to that of the ownership. (For example, the declaration in the above example cannot specify a property split of, say, 80:20 to reflect the ownership of the property with an income split of, say, 60:40). "
This seems a different interpretation to what Peter D is saying: "However you could own it as joint owners so HMRC would by default treat the rental income/profit as 50/50. However Legal ownership and Beneficial ownership as separate entities and Declaration of Trust can apportion the Beneficial ownership as you wish form 1 to 99% or 99 to 1%. You inform HMRC via a Form 17."
So what is the answer here?
Is it possible for myself and my wife to be tenants in common owning 50% each of the property, but for any rental income to be split 99%:1% with the majority to going to my wife?
How do I go about doing this? The declaration of trust aspect is not clear to me - what does this need to declare exactly and is this sufficient to avoid any issues with HMRC without having a rental income split aligned with the actual property ownership?
Interestingly enough I've contacted 6 accountants about this in the last 2 days: 4 had no idea about how to deal with it, one said it was at all not possible to do the 50:50 to 99:1 apportionment and one indicated that all I need to do is draft a letter between my wife and I and there is no need for a declaration of trust. There is a distinct confusion out there about the rules and subsequent implementation.
Any clarification would be appreciated.
Thank you