Living Abroad, House in Ireland, Significant Refurbishment - Can I claim for work car

BobbyFowler

I've lived abroad for a few years, renting out my house in Ireland.  In 2017 it's remained empty for 4 months.  During this time I got 30k's worth of work done to the house.  I'm guessing I can claim this back against the tax on the property?  Does it all need to be claimed in one financial year or can I spread it over a number of years?  Interested to hear how I go about this at the end of the year, cheers.

Lockedout2

What specifically did you get done?

So may be repairs and some of a Capital nature qualifying for capital allowances.

Peregrinus

What lockedout said. Expenditure of a capital nature isn't directly deductible in computing your taxable income from the property, but you may be able to claim capital allowances, which gives you deductions spread forward over a number of years.

However exxpenditure on maintenance, repair of wear and tear, etc, would be deductible in the year in which it's incurred, and if you don't have enough rental income in that year to make full use of the deduction, if I recall correctly you can carry forward the unused amount to future years.

In both cases, it matters whether you intend to continue renting out the house, and so will have rental income in future years, or are planning an early return to Ireland, and will resume living in the house and so will not have any rental income from it.

Would probably be worth your money to lay out a few shillings on a consultation with an account/tax adviser who will advise which items of expenditure are deductible and which give rise to a capital allowance, and explain the nuts and bolts of claiming both, and discuss tax planning in the context of your future intentions. Also be aware that having rented out your house has implication for your CGT liability when you dispose of it at some point in the future and, if you're not already up to speed on this, you could talk to him about that too.

Tow

You may be able to claim the VAT back:

Home Renovation Incentive (HRI)
https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/home-renovation-incentive/hri-for-homeowners-and-landlords/how-to-claim-the-hri-tax-credit.aspx