what tax advantage to non resident landlord status?

[thead]

Hi i hope this does not appear a naive question but i am struggling to understand why to bother registering as a non resident landlord - this is my situation:

I am a UK citizen whose tax affairs are up to date.
HMRC are aware that i have been non resident for 3 years and have no immediate intention to move back - 3 years in Shanghai and I have just moved to Hong Kong.
I have just bought 2 houses to let out in the UK and I am using letting agents to fully manage these

My understanding is that i can :

1: Register as a non resident landlord in which case my rent is paid gross and i may end up owing the HMRC some tax at the end of the year
2: not register as a non resident landlord in which case my rent is paid net and the HMRC may end up owing me some money at the end of the year

I really need to understand if i am missing some great tax advantage here as we may ask friends instead of agents to manage our properties but won't do this if we have real tax advantages as non resident landlords??? I am confused??????

[AvocadoK]

You have correctly understood the position. The only advantage to registering as a non resident landlord is cash flow.

If you do not register, your friends would be required to account for the tax, in the same way as a commercial agent would. It would seem fairer on your friends if you registered to receive rent gross so that they do not have to do this extra paperwork.

[thead]

Hi - sorry for late contact - thank you for your reply - I really appreciate it - its pretty much confirmed what i thought which is great as the HMRC is a nightmare to try to get any answers from