Tax Liability whilst making a loss

[solman242]

Good evening, hoping for some advice/reassurance

My Wife and I moved in May 2016 to New Zealand for the purpose of a two year work posting. During this time we've decided to rent out our sole property (which was bought with the objective to live in rather than a buy-to-let). We have now been renting out our property for just over a year via a letting agents who are also responsible for managing the property.

Now my question is that given the monthly rental income is 1550 pounds (before letting fees of 150) and my monthly mortgage charge is 1750, am I liable for any tax or do I have to submit a return, given that every month I'm making about a 300 pound loss against the mortgage payments?

If it makes any difference, my wife and I shall be moving back into the property permanently in April 2018.

I've found HMRCs online advice to be ambiguous so would be really grateful for some expert advice.

[D&C]

You may wish to take professional advice.

Is the property yours or joint? At one point you refer to renting "our" joint property then later on you refer to "my" monthly mortgage charge.

Also, you cannot claim a "monthly mortgage charge" as an expense. You may be able to claim loan interest (or a share of it) as an expense but even this is changing over the next couple of years.

What income did you have in the period from 6 April 2016 to leaving the UK? If you were employed could you be due a refund for this period?