About 1million private landlords did not declare any revenue in the past tax year (Picture: PA)

One in three buy-to-let landlords is dodging tax on their rental income at a cost of £550million to the taxpayer, Metro has learned.

About 1million private landlords did not declare any revenue in the past tax year, compared with 1.9million who did, according to the Exaro investigative website.

The tax-dodgers could face a crackdown from HM Revenue and Customs this year, with an HMRC insider saying they are ripe for further investigation.

‘This is a significant issue. The £550million is money that we should have,’ the source said.


Richard Murphy, an accountant and co-founder of the campaign group Tax Justice Network, said the HMRC ‘should get a grip’ on the problem.



‘This has long been known as an area where people do not declare income,’ he said. ‘If they are not asked, they do not declare it.’ Landlords not signed up to the tax self- assessment scheme are supposed to declare rental income by October 5 the following tax year.

HMRC said: ‘The majority of buy-to-let landlords pay what the law requires and evasion is far from endemic. Almost £1billion has been made available to tackle evasion and avoidance. Tax evasion is now very high risk.’