Registering business at PPR

[OurFella]

I'm pretty sure I read the answer to my question on here before but I can't find it so here goes....

My wife is setting up a Ltd company and will use our PPR as the registered business address. We plan to build a new house and sell the current house within 2 years. Are there any tax implications of having a business registered to your home address?

Thanks in advance..

 

[homeowner]

I'm pretty sure I read the answer to my question on here before but I can't find it so here goes....

My wife is setting up a Ltd company and will use our PPR as the registered business address. We plan to build a new house and sell the current house within 2 years. Are there any tax implications of having a business registered to your home address?

Thanks in advance..

AFAIK as long as you dont charge the ltd company rent for occupying a room in your house you are ok. If you do charge rent, then the tax man could come looking for a portion of the profit of the sale that applies to the room rented.

From www.revenue.ie :

What happens if I had let part of the house or used part of the house for business purposes?

Full exemption may not be due if only part of the house has been used as your residence. In this case an apportionment will be made to arrive at the exempt portion of the total gain and you will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the balance.

 

[OurFella]

Thanks for the reply. I rang the Revenue who told me registering a business to my address will not impact the CGT exemption.

I don't intend charging rent but I was considering using the company to pay the phone bill, % of heating bill etc. The person I spoke with at the Revenue didn't know if this was Ok and advised me to go to an accountant.

 

[ButtermilkJa]

...The person I spoke with at the Revenue didn't know if this was Ok and advised me to go to an accountant...

...because they didn't want to do their job.

Sorry if I sound like I'm on a rant but if the Revenue won't answer q's like this then that's ridiculous! I understand if someone doesn't know the answer, they can just say so, and advise that they will find out and get back to you. But to pass the buck... Surely accountants get their knowledge from the Revenue in the first place?

 

[Satanta]

I understand if someone doesn't know the answer, they can just say so, and advise that they will find out and get back to you. But to pass the buck... Surely accountants get their knowledge from the Revenue in the first place?

It's not Revenue's job or purpose to provide advice on taxation matters. They can provide information on leaflets etc. but to advise is beyond the task they do/should preform.

To fully understand all tax matters Revenue staff would need to have read thousands of leaflets, briefings, even court rulings! I for one am delighted to see a Revenue staff member suggest taking professional advice rather than giving inaccurate information, it doesn't happen all to often.

 

[ButtermilkJa]

I agree, professional advice should always be taken. No question. But I would have thought that because the Revenue deal with these matters they could also advise.

Maybe I was a bit harsh saying they don't want to do their job.

Where I'm coming from is this...
If I evade tax (not for one second saying I would, or anyone should), or even if I make a genuine mistake, then they will be quick enough to catch you out and tell you what you did wrong. However, when you ask them what to do beforehand, they seem reluctant to tell you? It doesn't make sense to me that's all. If they know afterwards, surely they know before.

Perhaps they have their own accountants checking IT/VAT returns and are merely a go-between. That would make more sense if that's the case.

 

[ubiquitous]

Surely accountants get their knowledge from the Revenue in the first place?

Not really...

In dealing with operational matters, for example ROS issues or local District policies on C2s, practising accountants sometimes have no choice but to refer to Revenue. That said, they otherwise generally depend on their own resources (ie research and review of technical material including legislation, CPD courses, subscriptions to technical journals or web updates and the purchase of expertise from consultants), as well as their own experience, rather than rely on Revenue, for the vast majority of their knowledge base. Referring to Revenue inspectors for guidance on specific issues would be very much a last resort given the danger of prejudicing a client's case in relation to any topical matter.

 

[Satanta]

If I evade tax (not for one second saying I would, or anyone should), or even if I make a genuine mistake, then they will be quick enough to catch you out and tell you what you did wrong. However, when you ask them what to do beforehand, they seem reluctant to tell you? It doesn't make sense to me that's all. If they know afterwards, surely they know before.

To be honest, they usually aren't all that quick.

They seem to tackle certain areas from time to time (on a large scale - obviously they do annually tackle the full range of issues on a smaller scale). I presume it helps with staff training. Whatever area they intend to focus on they can train the staff in the full in's and out's of it. Be it off shore accounts a few years ago, the non compliant land lords/SD evaders which appears to be in focus atm or whatever the next area of taxation they may decide to crack down on.

I 100% agree they should be able to provide clearer explanations and detailed information when queried, the fact is we all know the laws are just so complicated that it just isn't possible.

Personally, I feel that giving out poor advice is far more dangerous than giving out no advice so would like to see more of the staff adopt that attitude.

 

[ButtermilkJa]

I suppose it is less dangerous on their part. I see where you're coming from.

Anyway I've been slapped on the wrist for duplicating my posts so I'm backing out of this thread. Thanks for your replies though. Much appreciated.