House rental expense - can I offset?

  • Thread starter itsamishmash
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itsamishmash

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I am considering renting my own house out unfurnished (have moved in with g'friend) and I was curiuus to know if I can offset the expense of my furniture storage against the rental income. It is a direct expense resulting from the rental of my house. Direct.gov does not explicitly list those things you can and cannot claim as expense.
 
I would be very surprised if you could write this expense off.

Update: are you UK based since you mention [www.]direct.gov[.uk]? If so bear in mind that Askaboutmoney is an Irish site and deals primarily with Irish personal finance and related issues.
 
It is not connected with the letting as your personal furniture is not a rental asset ( unless you decided to rent the house furnished) . To be allowable the expense must be "wholly and exclusively" for the purposes of the letting.

Incidentally, you mentioned direct.gov which is a UK site. AAM is an Irish based site. While UK and Irish legislation would be broadly similar in these areas you should confirm the situation through UK based advice to be certain.
 
I would be surprised if you could not write off the expense.
Revenue's criteria are that the expense must be incurred "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" in relation to the business. The storage of the furniture complies with all three criteria.
 
as far as I am aware the conditions laid down by the UK inland revenue are the same as ours.
 
Ok some useful input not least the fact that this sites relates to Irish personal finance...sorry miseed that one. I'll go in seacrh of UK equivalent site, unless anyone knows what it is?? BTW Direct.Gov does stipulate something similar to 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily', which is why I might be on the right track. Thanks everyone for responses.
 
JFYI...Direct.gov.uk stipulates the following 'allowable' expenses:

letting agent's fees
legal fees for lets of a year or less, or for renewing a lease for less than 50 years
accountant's fees
buildings and contents insurance
interest on property loans
maintenance and repairs to the property (but not improvements)
utility bills (like gas, water, electricity)
rent, ground rent, service charges
Council Tax
services you pay for, like cleaning or gardening
other direct costs of letting the property, like phone calls, stationery, advertising

It also stipulates what you CANNOT claim as expense as the following:

  • 'capital' costs, like furniture or the property itself
  • personal expenses - costs that aren't to do with your letting business
  • any loss you make when you sell the property
As my expense is a direct result of letting my house unfurnished, I'm hoping this will slip in under the wire so to speak....any thought?
 
itsamishmash said:
As my expense is a direct result of letting my house unfurnished, I'm hoping this will slip in under the wire so to speak....any thought?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't try it ... if it was allowable then you could claim the costs of renting your girlfriends place too, as it's a "direct expense resulting from the rental of my house!"
 
callybags said:
as far as I am aware the conditions laid down by the UK inland revenue are the same as ours.
Click to expand...
This is completely untrue. A lot of our laws are based on UK legislation and originally came from that jurisdiction and are copied here but they are not the same. It would be helpful if the OP did not give us the UK rules on rental income as the Irish rules are a minefield in themselves.
 
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