Claiming office furniture as business cost for Ltd company

[New Business starter]

Help! We are a new Ltd company, started June 2011, and have made some small office furniture purchases (about £250) and we have also purchased a blackberry playbook & will be buying another laptop (costing about £750 in total). I have read somewhere about how I may not be able to claim these costs off immediately against our profits (which are good this year, but may be nothing next year if we don't get any clients!) and we have to claim them gradually.

Can anyone tell me the rules surrounding this? Is there a spend threshold before the gradual claiming kicks in? These are start up costs and we are hardly big spenders! Thanks.

 

[GraemeL]

Help! We are a new Ltd company, started June 2011, and have made some small office furniture purchases (about £250) and we have also purchased a blackberry playbook & will be buying another laptop (costing about £750 in total). I have read somewhere about how I may not be able to claim these costs off immediately against our profits (which are good this year, but may be nothing next year if we don't get any clients!) and we have to claim them gradually.

Can anyone tell me the rules surrounding this? Is there a spend threshold before the gradual claiming kicks in? These are start up costs and we are hardly big spenders! Thanks.

Morning.

The value is quite small, so you can just take it as an operating cost immediately.

The other method you mention is to regard it as capex and then depreciate it monthly. This can have advantages, but to be honest at these values I wouldn't have thought it was worth it.

G

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Help! We are a new Ltd company, started June 2011, and have made some small office furniture purchases (about £250) and we have also purchased a blackberry playbook & will be buying another laptop (costing about £750 in total). I have read somewhere about how I may not be able to claim these costs off immediately against our profits (which are good this year, but may be nothing next year if we don't get any clients!) and we have to claim them gradually.

Can anyone tell me the rules surrounding this? Is there a spend threshold before the gradual claiming kicks in? These are start up costs and we are hardly big spenders! Thanks.

It sounds like you've read some old guidance.

You can claim 100% capital allowances ie Annual Investment Allowance on these costs if you capitalise them (add them to your company balance sheet) or 100% if you charge them to your profit and loss account.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Just to add depreciation isnt allowable for tax purposes.

 

[New Business starter]

Thank you for your responses MyAccountantOnline & GraemeL.

I think I will put the whole amount through on profit/loss account as operating cost for this year. It seems the easiest way for me. I am about to order the second laptop, do I need to pay for it on a company debit card or would it be a problem if it was ordered on my personal amazon account or on a personal credit/debit card and claim it back off the company as an expense?

Thanks for all for your help, I'm loving the UK Business Forum Community, I wish I'd discovered it before!

 

[GraemeL]

You can go either way. However, unless there is a significant advantage in using anything other than your company debit card, why not do so? Its much easier for you, your accountant and HMRC (should they come knocking) to reconcile bank statements with expenditure that way. HMRC are much more likely to believe you bought it for business use if the company paid for it directly.

G

 

[Scalloway]

As long as it is used in your business it is up to you what you buy.