Pre Letting Expenses s97A

S

Sr. Tayto

New Member
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Hi, will be renting a property out that is more than 6 months vacant. The windows are single framed, timber windows. A few panes are broken. The door is also shot, wooden, seal totally frayed. I would like to claim the costs of replacing them with PVC windows and doors under the Pre Letting Expenses (can't link as I'm new). However, it should be like for like repairs I believe, or would this be OK? How would I prove this falls under repairs? Or am I out of luck?
 
You can only claim pre-letting expenses if they are the kind of expense that, if incurred while the house was let, would be deductible against the rental income.

Maintenance (cleaning, painting, decorating) etc. is deductible. So is repair (rot treatment, mending windows or doors).

But what you're proposing is not maintenance or repair; it's replacement and possibly upgrading. I think this would only be allowable if the present windows and doors are so far gone that repair is not a sensible option, and if the cost of installing the pvc replacements is similar to the cost of like-for-like replacement.

If the expenditure is not allowable against rental income as a pre-letting expense, then it will be allowable as a deduction in calculating your chargeable gain when you dispose of the property, so it won't be a total write-off.
 
TomEdison said:
If the expenditure is not allowable against rental income as a pre-letting expense, then it will be allowable as a deduction in calculating your chargeable gain when you dispose of the property, so it won't be a total write-off.
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It's as I expected, thanks very much! I presume you have to submit documentation of repairs etc, when claiming back?
 
TomEdison said:
If the expenditure is not allowable against rental income as a pre-letting expense, then it will be allowable as a deduction in calculating your chargeable gain when you dispose of the property, so it won't be a total write-off
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Are you sure of that? Because I'm not.

He's literally replacing broken windows.
That's not an enhancement.
 
T McGibney said:
Are you sure of that? Because I'm not.

He's literally replacing broken windows.
That's not an enhancement.
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Yuu may be right. My thinking is that the expenditure is either maintenance/repair, in which case it's allowable against rental income, or its capital expenditure to enhance the property, in which case it can be taken into account in computing the chargeable gain on disposal. But perhaps that's too simplistic.

He's not just replacing broken panes and repairing wooden frames; he's removing the existing windows and installing new PVC windows that weren't there before.
 
T McGibney said:
It's repairs and maintenance all day long.
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But I'm not replacing like for like, how do I prove to revenue that they needed replacing and that wood is not feasible? Do I submit documentation alongside my tax return to show they needed replacement.
T McGibney said:
And if he never files an income tax return, it's still not a CGT enhancement
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Could you expand on this? Why would I not file a tax return? Sorry for my ignorance, I'm still working this stuff out.
 
Sr. Tayto said:
But I'm not replacing like for like,
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Well you're hardly going to replace a rotten and broken door and windows with another rotten and broken door and windows, are you?

Sr. Tayto said:
how do I prove to revenue that they needed replacing and that wood is not feasible?
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Who says you have to prove anything, particularly when the question is one of common sense?
Maybe take photos of the old items to show they needed replacing?
Sr. Tayto said:
Do I submit documentation alongside my tax return to show they needed replacement.
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No.
Sr. Tayto said:
Could you expand on this? Why would I not file a tax return? Sorry for my ignorance, I'm still working this stuff out.
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