Rent, VAT and finance
How rent, VAT and tax work on a commercial let — cadence, quarter days, no Section 24, and CRAR.
Rent on a commercial property follows the lease cadence, not a monthly residential schedule.
- Demands follow the cadence. Where the rent is quarterly, each demand is named by its quarter — either the traditional quarter days (Lady Day 25 March, Midsummer 24 June, Michaelmas 29 September, Christmas 25 December) or the modern ones (1 January, 1 April, 1 July, 1 October). Arrears are measured against the demand date.
- VAT. If you have opted to tax, the rent shows + VAT and the ledger stays net.
Costs, tax and chasing
- Business rates is an expense category, and the insurance rent you receive is income.
- Mortgage interest is fully deductible, whoever owns the property. The Section 24 restriction that caps it on residential lets does not apply to commercial.
- No automatic valuation. Abodient does not value a shop for you, so the yield card asks you for a figure.
- Chasing arrears draws on CRAR (Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery), never the residential Section 8 route — the chase drafts name CRAR.