The outcome of income

Ah, October. The month in which autumn hits the realm in full, hues of scarlet and gold blanket the forests and I can look forward to finally ridding myself of the year's accumulated debts.

Or so I thought.

I started to look at my tax returns earlier today, masochism having gotten the better of me at last. Asking advice from someone at work who seems to go through these things on a regular basic reminded me that I'll need to declare the income I derived from renting my flat for 18 months or so. I wasn't too concerned about this, since for some reason I was still labouring under the belief that all such income under £4250 per year was tax free. Because the time during which I was renting out the flat was neatly nestled between two different tax years, the rent I collected during each year fell safely shy of this figure.

Guess what, I labour no longer. Some further investigation revealed that the scheme I'd been looking at only applies when renting out a room in a place in which you're dwelling. Renting out an entirely separate location, as I've been doing, means that tax is due on the full amount, less 10% depreciation. As near as I've been able to estimate, it this works out equivalent to another six weeks of debt, bringing me to the middle of December.

Insert appropriate swear words here.