Tax releif on solicitors bill

G

gaggot

Registered User
Messages
19
Hi there,
A quick question, I am currently being sued and I have to pay significant legal bills in order to defend myself. In relation to tax can I offset my legal bills against my tax?
Thanks.
 
Sorry i meant Income Tax. What finincial position do you have to be in in order to claim free legal aid?
 
You will have to post some details regarding the nature of the case before anyone can really advise properly.
 
The case involves a building, which I designed. There was a dispute between the builder and owner over money payments and I got dragged into it. I will probably be successfully in my defense but there are significant legal costs to be paid. I am self-employed and I just wanted to know could I off set my legal bills against my income tax. My current occupation is not related to the work I carried out on the building.
 


Yes, you can offset these expenses against your tax.
 
Perhaps MaryBM can give more detail about her opinion as to the ability to offset those expenses before you (OP) rely on that advice and incur expense. I also think you should consult Revenue and an independent financial adviser before deciding on your course of action if the determining factor is whether you can offset the legal expenses against income tax.

On your other thread, I'd agree with the other posters and advise against defending yourself at the High Court.
 
Hi WaterSprite,

Apologies, missed the last line on gaggots post "My current occupation is not related to the work I carried out on the building."

We sucessfully claimed legal fees (won't go into detail) against our tax liability as the expense was wholly and exclusively related to the running of our company.

It's good to have the professionals keeping an eye on us....WaterSprite!!

Good luck Gaggot. A phone call to your financial advisor and/or solicitor won't cost you anything and hopefully give you the clarification needed.

Mary
 

Hi Mary,

This is far away from my particular area of expertise, so I can't claim special knowledge in this area at all! Graham07 however, knows his onions. It does sound like OP needs some one-on-one professional advice on this issue, mind you. We have two differentiating factors between the two of you: (i) OP isn't incorporated (from what I can gather) and (ii) as you also mention, the work carried out isn't related to his/her main employment. It could be the case that OP could offset the cost of litigation against the income tax relevant to fee s/he got for that particular type of work that led to the claim.

That particular question is beyond my personal internet forum pay grade!

Sprite
 
The "quick question" ( per the OP ) does not always have a quick answer. The wording of the original post preceded a very different later expansion into the area of self-employment , construction etc. As I presume that the OP has/had taxation/accounting advisors in relation to the self-employment I would strongly suggest ( as MaryBM said) that a call to those advisors be made for clarification.
 
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