LTD Company - Expenses

AthAnRi

Hi all,

I've searched through the threads and google and could not find an answer to my question.

I'll be setting up a LTD Company in the New year and would like to know if Rent is an allowable expense?

Currently I can expense my umbrella company but apparently I can only claim for the nights I stay there. For example if I stay 5 nights a week I get 5/7 of my allowance.

Any good websites would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Athanri.

srsly78

Rent for your main residence - not allowed for expenses (unless you are on secondment abroad maybe). Rent for a room used as a home office - allowed.

Paying for short-term accomodation on business trips is allowed. However you can either used vouched expenses or unvouched, sometimes the flatrate unvouched rates are simpler to operate.

Get an accountant, they will sort all this stuff out.

AthAnRi

srsly78 wrote: »

Rent for your main residence - not allowed for expenses (unless you are on secondment abroad maybe). Rent for a room used as a home office - allowed.

Paying for short-term accomodation on business trips is allowed. However you can either used vouched expenses or unvouched, sometimes the flatrate unvouched rates are simpler to operate.

Get an accountant, they will sort all this stuff out.

Thanks for the reply.

What if the rent isn't for my main residence. For example I have a house in Galway that will be my main residence and the Apt in Dublin will to make commuting a whole lot easier?

srsly78

Then it gets complicated and you need to talk to an accountant. As with the umbrella you may be able to pay 5/7th of the cost. But if the subsistence amount for 5 days is more then you are better off taking that.

However, since you are no longer commuting long distances you may not be eligible for higher rates of subsistence. It will be VERY worth your while getting a good accountant, you will need one anyway to help with annual returns etc. A good accountant will do you a deal where they take care of your personal tax/pension affairs as well as those of your one man company.

dbran

Hi

All this would certainly depend on the circumstances of the case as it is a complex area. It appears from your posts that you work for a client in Dublin but reside in Galway and also rent a place in Dublin to cut down on the travel.

1) In order to claim the use of a home office it is necessary that a substantial proportion of the work is required to be carried out there. For example simply taking the occasional file home in the evening etc would not be enough to allow you to claim a proportion of the rent as an allowable deduction. If the work that you do could also be done at your clients premises then the home office rent would not be allowable.

2) From what you are saying the expense incurred on the apartment in Dublin is incurred for the purpose of shortening your commute from Galway to Dublin. This would therefore not be allowable as it is incurred because the work is in Dublin and you have chosen to live in Galway. This is a personal choice that you have made to live remotely from your client and not exclusively because of the work that you do.

So in my opinion the Galway rent may or may not be allowable depending on the circumstances and the Dublin rent is certainly not allowable.

Hope this helps

dbran