What date should pre-trade expenses be recorded for a self-employed (UK)?

[JakeT]

Hi all, please advise: Everywhere it is stated that expenses incurred before the start of trading activity should be treated as expenses occurring on the day trading activity commences. But what should be done with expenses that, while incurred before the start of trading, still fall within the same tax year? What date should be used to record such expenses - the actual date (since they still occur within the tax year) or the date trading activity begins?


EXAMPLES:
1. A drill bought 5 years ago - should probably be dated on the first day of trading. Or is it best to add things as closely as possible as to when they actually happened as much as possible? If so, the drill should be dated the first day of the tax year (6th April 2023)?
2. A table bought a month before the first day of trading (within this tax year) - should it be recorded under the true/invoice date or a fake one (the first day of trading)?

Additionally, is there any trick I should use recording such expenses or can I use my Chart of Accounts as I normally do after the start of trading activity?

Kind Regards, Jake, a novice self-employed in the UK.

 

[Scalloway]

If it was bought in a previous tax year use the date of starting trading. I would do the same with items bought in the period prior to trading. Items that have been used previously should go in at a market value.
They go in your accounts under the normal headings. The other side of the entry is Capital Introduced on the Balance Sheet.

 

[JakeT]

If it was bought in a previous tax year use the date of starting trading. I would do the same with items bought in the period prior to trading. Items that have been used previously should go in at a market value.
They go in your accounts under the normal headings. The other side of the entry is Capital Introduced on the Balance Sheet.

Thank you. And what about the purchases happened before the first day of trading but within this tax year - should they be recorded under the true/invoice date or under the fake date (the first day of trading)?

 

[Scalloway]

I would put them on the first date of trading.