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Wimbledon bingo!
Wimbledon bingo is an annual game, reportedly played by members of HMRC's press office team to see which newspaper will run a story on HMRC catching up with Wimbledon residents who let rooms or their house to players during Wimbledon fortnight. HMRC have always been aware that people let rooms or houses during Wimbledon and other big arts or sporting events, e.g. the Edinburgh Festival. This year, one national newspaper mentioned HMRC's online tool enabling them to match undeclared rentals with self assessment tax returns. This is Xenon which allows HMRC to find traders by searching online trade and auction websites (see Update, Taxation, 15 February 2007, page 182).
Some taxpayers may be able to claim rent-a-room relief (currently £4,250) if they remain in their house and let only a room, but others, who let their entire house, will need to declare the income as short-term lettings. Peter Goodman of Wilkins Kennedy points out that people renting out their garage or parking space for, say, office workers, should also remember to declare the rents as income from land.
