Receipts & Invoices for the UK taxman

I am sure many people on this forum rent out their property and also inform the UK tax man of their affairs . I have looked into what we can and can't claim for with regards to our Spanish property given that we don't have a tax allowance in Spain being non residents.

The taxman in the UK told us that we can claim for things against the tax bill in the UK under the double taxation law, but only for dates when the apartment is available for rent/ is rented and not for the times when it is for private use (fair enough). We have spoken to our keyholder about getting a receipt for monies paid, but the community management company have told us that they do not issue receipts for community fee payments. I have tried to explain that without any form of bill to produce to the UK inland revenue they  will not allow this payment as a justifiable expense. The response from the management company is that they do not have to issue a receipt because community fees are not subject to tax!! Anyone with any ideas on where I stand with that?

I have also been told that you can set aside one flight per year as a justifiable expense to check on the property. Anyone with any experience of that?

Thanks

Mark

Who do you bank with?  Maybe you could use the your bank receipts as proof of the bill paid and who too.

I bank with Halifax and recently they sent me small slips showing the details of the recent direct debits taken from my account, maybe yours does the same?

Thanks for your reply.

If I make a bank transfer, it will show on a statement who the payment was made to, when and for how much. It won't however be the same as an official request for payment such as an invoice, or a receipt from the receiving business, or will it?

I just want to get it right before we get screwed by the taxman.

Mark

My community fees are paid by Direct Debit and when I banked with Solbank all my direct debits showed up on the statements with the originator's details.

When I check on line with Halifax just the amounts are shown but when you hover over the transaction the details are shown.  I was hoping that by printing off the statment then all the details would appear but they don't.

I did querry it with them recently when I went into the Bank but it seems that this is how the system works.

As I said earlier I do receive individual statments listing out the direct debits in full through the post so if you banked with them and decided to pay by d/d then these could be classed as individual receipts.

I pay my community fees this month so if it would help I could pm you and let you know when I receive the receipt.

You should get a reciept anyway as if you sell the property you need to prove they are to date - and before they tell youthat they issue a certificate for notary, under decree 218 when you PLACE your property onto the market your agents have to ask you for this or they can be fined a minimum 5000 euros!

So they have to give you the receipts!!