Deposits and Refunds under COVID-19
I have two gites that I rent out over the summer season. When a booking is taken I take a % deposit on booking - this is non-refundable under normal circumstances. I declare this amount in the quarter the deposit is received and pay my cotisations on it in that quarter. Then pay the rest of my cotisations when the balance of the rental is received. In light of COVID-19 it is looking more and more as though I am going to have my full booked summer cancelled. So I obviously have deposits already paid and I will probably have to refund all of these if people cannot travel and they have to cancel their holidays. I know for a fact that I have one deposit received in October 2019 on which I have paid cotisations, the rest of the deposits were received January 2020. Am I able to reclaim some cotisations already paid? Or what is the best procedure? I still have to do my Jan - Mar 2020 quarter declaration. I am in contact with clients as to whether they want to wait, receive a refund or rebook different dates.