Allowable tax deductions on rental income - Travel?

[Bronte]

Whats the downside of being audited if you believe everything is above board ? Is there not an upside in that it wont happen again anytime soon or do revenue audit people again and again?

I've thought about that and thought about asking revenue to audit me so that I could be sure I'm doing everything correctly. In recent times I've hired a very good accountant (thanks AAM) to put me even more on the correct path.

I probably have an irrational fear of revenue but based on a sibling's recent dealings with them where everything was done correctly and the nightmare it was and still is (not an audit) I'll keep that fear.

 

[bullworth]

I probably have an irrational fear of revenue but based on a sibling's recent dealings with them where everything was done correctly and the nightmare it was and still is (not an audit) I'll keep that fear.

I know exactly how you feel. You can do all the right things yet worry about human error in calculations. Am I right in thinking that even a tiny sum in error for calculations such as share sales etc would get charged punitive interest over decades and that theres no statute of limitations where revenue is involved so it could end up as a huge liability?

 

[mandelbrot]

I know exactly how you feel. You can do all the right things yet worry about human error in calculations. Am I right in thinking that even a tiny sum in error for calculations such as share sales etc would get charged punitive interest over decades and that theres no statute of limitations where revenue is involved so it could end up as a huge liability?

You need to consider how would such a situation ever arise, that Revenue are looking at returns over decades. There is a time limit, except where fraud or neglect exists. This burden of proving fraud or neglect means that it only happens in investigation cases, where Revenue have strong suspicions of serious wrongdoing by the taxpayer - so small totting errors are not going to be an issue, it'll more likely be the few hundred grand tucked away offshore, or in prize bonds or something that'll cause the problem!!

I've never in reality seen something as horrific as what you suggest happen, and even if a particular Auditor was inclined to be that much of a dog about it, I'd say a District Manager wouldn't want the thing going off to Appeal over something that at the end of the day is trivial...

 

[bullworth]

You need to consider how would such a situation ever arise, that Revenue are looking at returns over decades. There is a time limit, except where fraud or neglect exists. This burden of proving fraud or neglect means that it only happens in investigation cases, where Revenue have strong suspicions of serious wrongdoing by the taxpayer - so small totting errors are not going to be an issue, it'll more likely be the few hundred grand tucked away offshore, or in prize bonds or something that'll cause the problem!!

I've never in reality seen something as horrific as what you suggest happen, and even if a particular Auditor was inclined to be that much of a dog about it, I'd say a District Manager wouldn't want the thing going off to Appeal over something that at the end of the day is trivial...

I still have my Vodafone shares from the Eircom floatation probably mostly due to inertia because I don't have a clue how to figure out how much I have made or lost. I'm worried about making a mistake or not finding the correct documentation and its not worth enough to hire an accountant especially if I made a loss.

 

[Bronte]

That reminds me I sold Eircom shares at a profit and never declared anything. Yikes. Don't think they are going to find out about that now though. Too long ago.