OH had a nixer

Firblog

Hi folks

OH works for the public service but did a bit of freelance work on the side last year - 2017 / 2018 - she has just received the payment.

She doesn't know if she will have more of the same in the coming year - hopefully she will.

Question 1: She purchased some IT equipment, PC & Surface Tablet, & Office Suite to do the work; can she claim the cost of all this as an expense this year? Or will she have to do claim so much each year? (if so what are the rates?)

Question 2: She did some traveling during the course of the project, what is the mileage rate she can claim?

Cheers

L1011

IT equipment and software need to be for business use specifically and is written down over 8 years at 12.5% unless things have changed.

The documentation and so on required to claim motoring costs is not worth it on Form 11; basically. Tolls, parking etc are all covered and deductable.

Oops69

I thought public servants employed wholetime were not allowed to do private work on the side .

tinner777

Oops69 wrote: »

I thought public servants employed wholetime were not allowed to do private work on the side .

you can, but have to be tax compliant. You cannot work in Ireland if on special leave.

Firblog

L1011 wrote: »

IT equipment and software need to be for business use specifically and is written down over 8 years at 12.5% unless things have changed.

Thought she'd be able to offset all against tax in first year of trading/working as may not work next year..

L1011 wrote: »

The documentation and so on required to claim motoring costs is not worth it on Form 11; basically. Tolls, parking etc are all covered and deductable.

Is there not a mileage allowance, as she was using her personal car work purposes?

L1011

You can't write down capex faster on the basis that you *might* not have more income

Mileage allowance is what can be paid tax free by an employer. It's motoring costs that self employed can claim and that requires proof of the business/personal use of the vehicle if it's not dedicated

Firblog

L1011 wrote: »

You can't write down capex faster on the basis that you *might* not have more income

Sounds logical. Can it be claimed back in the following years against tax on earnings from PAYE employment?

L1011 wrote: »

Mileage allowance is what can be paid tax free by an employer. It's motoring costs that self employed can claim and that requires proof of the business/personal use of the vehicle if it's not dedicated

Seems strange that she can claim mileage allowance when working for state without proof personal vehicle usage, but has to provide it when claiming as self-employed.

L1011

Firblog wrote: »

Sounds logical. Can it be claimed back in the following years against tax on earnings from PAYE employment?

I believe it can be offset as a trading loss for the remaining year(s); additionally when the gear actually becomes a write off which will inevitably happen before 8 years because computers just don't last that long, you should be able to claim the lot then. The paperwork may make it not worth it.

Firblog wrote: »

Seems strange that she can claim mileage allowance when working for state without proof personal vehicle usage, but has to provide it when claiming as self-employed.

To claim the mileage allowance in employment you will have to have actually made the journeys to claim it; that's sufficient proof. The max allowable rates have been extensively changed to make it less lucrative for some. There are employers (including my PAYE one...) who pay far less than the max allowable at that!

YFlyer

L1011 wrote: »

I believe it can be offset as a trading loss for the remaining year(s); additionally when the gear actually becomes a write off which will inevitably happen before 8 years because computers just don't last that long, you should be able to claim the lot then. The paperwork may make it not worth it.



To claim the mileage allowance in employment you will have to have actually made the journeys to claim it; that's sufficient proof. The max allowable rates have been extensively changed to make it less lucrative for some. There are employers (including my PAYE one...) who pay far less than the max allowable at that!

Medical lectures use mileage allowance from their place of surgery to the college. May not have to travel each day to get to college.

L1011

Not within the law they don't

YFlyer

L1011 wrote: »

Not within the law they don't

They have their place of surgery as their work place. University they classify as visiting.

L1011

If they aren't actually travelling it's not legal. And again, they aren't self employed.

Avatar MIA

L1011 wrote: »

I believe it can be offset as a trading loss for the remaining year(s)!

A lot of very knowledgeable advice from L1011.

Re the above point, in practice Revenue will not allow you to offset Schedule D Case 1 capital allowances for subsequent years against schedule E (PAYE employment) if there is no trade (SDC1 income) for those years.

In short, if you work one year you'll get maximum 1/8th of the cost as a deduction. However (although not so likely in practice) revenue may disallow a private proportion of the equipment. Basically it may not be believable you bought all this equipment just for a once off job.

Firblog

OH travels for her public service job, no one ever checks how she got to meetings, could have taken the bus but gets paid the milage allowance, as she is using her private car for work.

Just seems strange that she cannot claim mileage for using her private car to perform work that she is getting paid for.

Is she actually self employed? What stamp will/should she pay on these earnings? Seems alot more complicated that I'd previously thought.

Avatar MIA

Firblog wrote: »

Just seems strange that she cannot claim mileage for using her private car to perform work that she is getting paid for.

I think you're confusing the two. When using your private car for a company a civil service mileage rate can be used as a benchmark - whether the company is private or state owned.

If your OH set up a company (unlikely from what you said) then she could claim mileage from the company. However, as a self employed (non company) she can only claim back the actual cost of the travel.

L1011

Firblog wrote: »

OH travels for her public service job, no one ever checks how she got to meetings, could have taken the bus but gets paid the milage allowance, as she is using her private car for work.

Just seems strange that she cannot claim mileage for using her private car to perform work that she is getting paid for.

Is she actually self employed? What stamp will/should she pay on these earnings? Seems alot more complicated that I'd previously thought.

That's the way the law is. And non-valid mileage has bitten people in case of audits of their employers

If the income comes under form 12 limits, no PRSI will be paid at all