Two-bedroom homes in Windsor were renting for more than £3,000 ($4,000 €3,400) a night while properties with a room with a view were renting for up to £15,000 a night.
International broadcasters paid more than £300,000 for rooms overlooking the route on Saturday while some were commandeered by security forces, driving prices higher.
While the commemorative gift bags from the Royal wedding given to those invited to watch outside St Georges chapel have reached £780 and £1,500 on eBay.
The accounting, tax and advisory practice warns HM Revenue and Customs will be looking at eBay, at Airbnb ads, rental advertisements in local papers as well as using their computer system ‘Connect’ to identify changes in income and those who benefited by renting or selling items.
Cashing in
“Many enterprising individuals appeared to have cashed in – what they now need to understand is that the Revenue will be looking closely to see who has benefited and by how much,” said Nimesh Shah, partner at Blick Rothenberg.
“Residents of Windsor found their properties in high demand last weekend. The rise of websites such as Airbnb demonstrates the popularity of short term lets and taxpayers should bear in mind that while renters could see advertisements online, and indeed in local newspapers and via local estate agents so could HMRC.
“Any information gleaned from these sources will be fed into the HMRC data-mining programme Connect, so that it can ultimately be compared to the amounts included on individuals’ tax returns. Any apparent mis-alignment is likely to be investigated by HMRC – particularly if the tax at stake is significant.”
Helpful allowances
Annual allowances were introduced last year which can help with such situations notes Shah. (Click through to page two)
