Accounting & Tax
STL accounting is not something we do — it is something our sister firm does exclusively.
Short-term let accounting and tax work is handled by STL Accounting and Finance, the accounting arm of the STL Solutions group and the only United Kingdom accounting practice focused exclusively on short-term let and holiday let operators.
Why the split
Planning and accounting are different disciplines.
STL Solutions is the UK's leading planning and licensing consultancy for short-term let operators. We handle Certificates of Lawfulness, planning permission applications, enforcement defence, and licensing appeals. That is what we do.
Accounting, tax planning, VAT, business rates analysis, and MTD compliance are a distinct professional discipline, regulated separately, requiring different qualifications and different systems. Passing that work off to a specialist who does nothing else is a better answer than doing it as a sideline. That specialist, in our case, is our sister firm.
Where a client's question spans both areas - and, in this sector, most of them do - the two firms work directly together and coordinate advice.
Sector-specific tax changes
Four things have hit STL tax positions in eighteen months.
Every one of these has a right answer for a specific operator and a lot of wrong ones. A generalist accountant running twenty client types will not have the depth on any single change that a specialist practice does.
Furnished Holiday Let abolition
Effective 6 April 2025. Full mortgage interest relief, capital allowances, pension contribution eligibility, and Business Asset Disposal Relief - all removed. The first full tax year under the new rules has now been filed.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Live from 6 April 2026 for individual operators above the qualifying threshold. Quarterly digital reporting to HMRC. Software choice and platform-income reconciliation matter more than most operators expect.
Business rates revaluation
The 2026 non-domestic rates list revised many STL properties upwards. Combined with Small Business Bonus taper changes, the old default answer of 'stay on business rates' no longer applies universally.
Visitor levies
Edinburgh's levy went live July 2026. The Welsh framework is law with authorities able to opt in from 2027. Per-booking levy capture, VAT treatment of the levy, and remittance mechanics all need setting up before the first authority activates.
Move to a specialist.
STL Accounting and Finance publishes sector-specific insights regularly, offers fixed monthly fees from £70, and responds to every enquiry within one working day.
stlaccounting.co.uk →