Preparing Tax Return on Rental Income

D

dublin15

Registered User
Messages
12
For the last 12 months I have been renting my former home and am now preparing a Form 12. I lived in the house for over 5 years and when I moved residence I left most of the furniture behind. I have receipts for the furniture some of which is up to 4 years old. My question is can I write off at 12.5% a year any of this furniture or can I only write off new furiture that has been bought since I rented the property?
 
No, it does not specify. I assume its for new furniture only but Im looking for advice/opinions
 
Thank you for the reply.

Can I ask what CA is?

And can I claim on all the furniture or only that which has been purchased since the house became a rented property?
 
If this was your principal private residence for part of this 12 months .. Rent - a -room relief may apply.
 
Thanks again for the information.

Im still confused as to whether or not I can claim CA on furniture that was in house prior to the start of rental. Am i allowed claim CA on all furiture or only the new furniture that was bought specifically for the rented period?
 
Hi Dublin15

Your property does not have to be newly kitted out to claim the 12.5% annual wear and tear allowance.

Just make an inventory of the fixtures and fittings and guesstimate their values as at the date of the first letting.

Once the amounts claimed are reasonable and once nobody is trying to pull a fast one, I don't think the Revenue are going to be unduly concerned about the exact valuations used, particularly if you've kept a comprehensive inventory of the contents of the house, and all other aspects of your tax affairs are fully in order.

Good luck!
(I'm a landlord and not a tax expert - perhaps for your first return you might want to get professional advice?)
 
dublin15 said:
Im still confused as to whether or not I can claim CA on furniture that was in house prior to the start of rental. Am i allowed claim CA on all furiture or only the new furniture that was bought specifically for the rented period?
Click to expand...

Exactly what delgirl said
 
Just another quick question along this line. If repairs are carried out while the house is occupied, is the full cost of the repairs deductible, or just a percentage or the cost. Things I'm talking about are wooden floor repair, some paintwork, replace door handles, new curtains etc.
 
Hi Geri

Yes, you can deduct the cost of maintenance and repairs in full during a tenancy - so this would cover your painting, floor repair etc. You can only deduct these items if they were carried out by a tradesman and you have an invoice - you cannot claim for work which you have carried out yourself except for the materials used and you need to keep a receipt for these.

The new curtains, however, would need to be added to the property inventory and wear & tear claimed at 12.5% per annum over 8 years.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for that Delgirl. We carried out the work ourselves so are only planning to claim for cost of materials. Have receipts for everything.
 
Thank you Delgirl for that information. I have receipts for all the furniture so hopefully this will reduce my tax bill.
 
Is there anything that can be claimed as an expence that might not be obivious to a first time landlord?? Maybe something that isnt listed on the Revenue Guide?
 
just in regard to the curtains, it may be easier to claim the curtains as a replacement cost ie claim in full for this year. You would be allowed a capital loss on the old curtains, but it's probably easier to write them off in full (presumably they are not too valuable) in the year of purchase. In the unlikely event of a revenue audit, you would have some sort of argument backing you up. Also, I would'nt be averse to claiming a few euro in general expenses, these are not verifiable, but presumably you have not got receipts for all the work that's been carried out to bring the property to its present state, so there can be a bit of give and take on these things.
 
Don't forget to claim incidental expenses such as telephone costs, advertising, solicitors, service charges (if you pay them).

Also, Keep in mind that when you sell the house in future that you will most likely be liable to capital gains tax on the profit realised on the house from the time it ceased to be your principal private residence to the date of sale,
 
Apart from telephone costs which i had not included does anyone have other sugestions for reasonable expences that can reduce tax liability?
 
If you've registered with the PRTB within the year you are doing the return for, you can allow for that aswell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top