As an Independent Professional Contractor, it is possible to purchase business equipment that you require to carry out your contact and to apply tax relief to the expense. In this blog piece by Gerard Kiernan, we discuss what business equipment you can claim for and how much tax you can save as a result of processing it through the business.
As an Independent Professional Contractor, it is possible to purchase business equipment that you require to carry out your contract and to apply tax relief to the expense. In this blog piece, we discuss what business equipment you can claim for and how much tax you can save as a result of processing it through the business. First, we will go through all the main aspects associated with tax relief on equipment in your business with straightforward examples.
What business equipment can I purchase through my Limited Company?
You can purchase business assets in your limited company that is required wholly and exclusively for use in the business. These expenses can include:
Computer equipment such as a laptop, monitors, or keyboard.
Office furniture for your home office, including desks, chairs, and storage space.
Telecom equipment, i.e. mobile phones, routers, and firewall subscriptions.
Can I claim tax relief on these assets?
Yes, you can claim tax relief on these costs. In line with the Revenue Guidelines, you need to be able to justify these as in use, wholly and necessarily for your business.
How do I claim tax relief?
As a client of Icon Accounting, it couldn’t be easier to process a business expense claim. Simply upload the receipt to the Icon Accounting App. It is important to note that the receipt from the retailer, must be in the name of the limited company.
You should also have a valid explanation for the use of your equipment to ensure the claim is processed as swiftly as possible.
What can I not claim for?
Revenue would query expenses that fall inside certain category types. For example, equipment that is solely for personal use such as Personal iPads, Personal Phones, Personal Laptops / Tablets, or Personal PCs / TVs cannot be submitted as a business expense through your limited company.
Other examples of expenses that Revenue would query include multiple purchases of the same equipment type, for example, the purchase of two mobile phones within a short period of time. Purchases that take place around Christmas time, particularly those that can be considered personal devices usually trigger an alert with Revenue.
Our advice around business expenses is to always ask the question before incurring the expense. If you are a client of Icon Accounting, your account manager will be more than happy to assist and advise on which expenses fall within the Revenue Guidelines, thus removing the risk of purchasing an item that won’t be considered allowable and therefore not applicable to tax relief.
If you are an Independent Professional and would like to find out more about what expenses you claim as part of your contract role, please reach out to our team of experts by emailing info@iconaccounting.ie or by calling 01-8077106.
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