Software & Property

I’m Clive — a qualified Chartered Accountant and hands-on property investor with over 30 years’ experience helping people make smarter financial decisions and build long-term wealth.

My day-to-day work is split between:

Investing in high-yield HMO properties across the North West and Yorkshire

Advising landlords, builders, and small businesses on tax, accounting and compliance

And I love both.

Because I believe smart property investing and smart tax planning go hand-in-hand — and most people don’t get either right.

Hello... I'm Clive Cass

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Accounting Software

There are 4 ways to maintain your accounting records:

Manual (paper and pen);

Excel which is a spreadsheet that replicates manual records;

Integrated Accounting software such as Quickbooks, Xero, FreeAgent & SAGE.

Integrated Systems

Integrated accounting systems are the way to go when your accountancy and tax requirements reach a certain level of complexity. This will often be the case if you act as a limited company and need a Balance sheet or where you are VAT registered. I am happy to advise what software you will need now and when it is time for you to move on to something else.

Microsoft Excel

Excel is MTD compliant however will not easily cope with more complex issues such as VAT, large portfolios and limited companies where a balance sheet is required. If this is all you can manage it is however a reasonable way (and better than manual records) to provide the information to your book keeper to transfer, if necessary, to accountaing software. I can of course set you up on a suitable Excel accounting system, such as my free one designed for small businesses.

These systems are ideal for landlords of Buy to Lets who want to either manage them rather than get an estate agent to do so or who want to at least be actively involved in some aspects of the management.

The accounting systems are excellent but are limited in that they generally cannot handle VAT or produce a balance sheet which is a requirement for limited companies.

The real beauty of these systems is that they are really simple to use and provide a lot of management information from simple reminders about deadlines for insurance or safety checks to details of tenancies and even great financial information such as rental yields, equity and remortages.

Property Management & Accountancy Systems

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Elite Broker Blogs

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Voluntary Restitution

Tax| Property| Accounting

August 16, 2026•2 min read

Voluntary Restitution

HMRC’s recent Let Property Campaign allows taxpayers to declare previously unpaid tax on rental income and bring their tax affairs up to date. In some cases, HMRC may identify historic property tax liabilities that it cannot legally assess and invite the taxpayer to make a Voluntary Restitution payment. This factsheet examines the law and ethics surrounding such payments.

What is Voluntary Restitution?

HMRC have certain time limits, known as statutory assessment periods, by which they can assess for unpaid tax.

In most cases, this is four years, but it is extended to six years for careless errors and 20 years for deliberate errors.If the limit has passed, the tax is not legally collectible.

HMRC’s Enquiry Manual states:

·Where tax is not legally enforceable, HMRC may invite the taxpayer to make a Voluntary Restitution payment on equitable grounds, which involves:

oSeeking the tax plus simple interest.

oNo penalties.

·If the taxpayer refuses:

oHMRC must not press the point.

oNegotiations continue ignoring those sums.

In short, HMRC can apply moral pressure, not legal obligation.

For instance, if a taxpayer genuinely overlooked income for several years, and some of those years are now outside the statutory assessment period, HMRC might invite the taxpayer to make a Voluntary Restitution payment for those older years.

‘Out of time’ errors

As your accountants, if we establish that there is an ‘out of time’ error, we will explain:

·The error.

·That HMRC cannot assess.

·That HMRC may invite Voluntary Restitution.

·That payment is voluntary, and

·That no penalties would normally apply.

We will not force or pressure you to pay, nor will we treat Voluntary Restitution as a compliance requirement.

Why make a Voluntary Restitution payment?

You may have a strong moral preference to pay, in which case making a Voluntary Restitution payment could give you comfort and a sense of finality.

This could potentially reduce future friction between you and HMRC.

What is the recommended course of action?

Not making a Voluntary Restitution payment will generally be our advice, however. This course of action is legally correct and, of course, keeps your money in your pocket.

Be aware when signing any settlement agreement with HMRC – if a Voluntary Restitution amount is incorporated into a signed settlement agreement, the amount becomes a legally binding contractual obligation.

If there is a wider settlement strategy in play, it could be beneficial to make a partial voluntary payment as part of that strategy.

Further information

HMRC’s guidance on Voluntary Restitution can be found in their Enquiry Manual:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/enquiry-manual/em3980

taxproperty investing

Clive Cass

Clive Cass is a Chartered Accountant & Property Investor who shares his insights into the world of Property Investing. Read along with him as he breaks-down all the facts, information and legislation into easy to follow blog posts.

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