Changing family home to B&B

kweeveen86

Hi guys,

not even sure I'm posting this in the right area but here it goes...!

My Mum, my brothers and I have been thinking about changing the family home into a B&B since my Dad died a couple of years ago. Idea would be that I'd be the one designated to run it but my Mum would still own the house (and live in it, with me also living there).
Just wondering if anyone has any experience/ knowledge of taxation, etc in terms of deriving your sole income from such a venture?

I'm not sure if there are different tax bands for different incomes, etc...? Would my Mum's pension from her job be affected?

House is a 5 bed but would start small (probably next Spring) with 3 rooms and possibly only at weekends until June onwards just to see how it's going.
Just afraid that any income might be taxed at such a rate as to make the whole idea a non-starter?
Also, are there grants/ social welfare schemes for self-employment to cater for such a scenario...?

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! :-)

davindub

kweeveen86 wrote: »

Hi guys,

not even sure I'm posting this in the right area but here it goes...!

My Mum, my brothers and I have been thinking about changing the family home into a B&B since my Dad died a couple of years ago. Idea would be that I'd be the one designated to run it but my Mum would still own the house (and live in it, with me also living there).
Just wondering if anyone has any experience/ knowledge of taxation, etc in terms of deriving your sole income from such a venture?

I'm not sure if there are different tax bands for different incomes, etc...? Would my Mum's pension from her job be affected?

House is a 5 bed but would start small (probably next Spring) with 3 rooms and possibly only at weekends until June onwards just to see how it's going.
Just afraid that any income might be taxed at such a rate as to make the whole idea a non-starter?
Also, are there grants/ social welfare schemes for self-employment to cater for such a scenario...?

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! :-)

You can only operate a 4 bedroom b&b without planning permission.

Tax is derived from taxable income which is income - allowable expenses and then taxed at income tax rates (including PRSI, USC). So if its your only income 20% on first 33,800 (single person).

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Enterprise-Allowance-Self-Employed.aspx

CeilingFly

Why not try airbnb first and see what issues arise?

Then if it suits, look at registering as a b&b.

antoinolachtnai

Work out the income and expenditure per week for the business as best you can. Consider it for the first year. There might not be a real income in it for you.

If it is your sole income, the tax shouldn't be too bad. But there will be some tax to pay (less than the 20 percent mentioned above on the first 33800) and some bureaucracy involved.

I don't know your circumstances, but I don't know why you would wait until next Spring. Get the house spruced up now, and try airbnb for July, August and September. See if there is any demand and find out for yourself what the real costs are and what's actually involved. I would keep away from doing cooked breakfasts if I were you, especially at first. That makes the whole thing much more simple.

There is lots more that can be said about accommodation and hospitality. It is a complicated and interesting field and there are books about it if you take the time and trouble. If you really watched 'At Your Service' intently and took on board everything your man says, you would learn a lot of relevant things. I am suggesting that as a starting point because it is something you can realistically do and can relate to, rather than trying to read a specialised book on the subject. Another thing to do is to go and stay a night in an actual B+B or hotel (if you don't do so frequently) and try to pay attention to the experience - not so much about how big the rooms are or whether the carpet is new or not - but how each step of the experience makes you *feel*.

The pension question - it really depends what type of pension it is. But this is unlikely to be an issue.

Grants - your scale is so small and your start-up costs are so low that it is hard to see how the bureaucracy involved would make any sense even if there were any grants available (which there probably aren't, though you could check with your local enterprise office).