Selling your own stuff to your own business

happywarmgun

Quick question. I run a small business, and I'm doing my year end and sitting looking round the office we rent and there is a fair bit of stuff of mine that has over the last year essentially become the businesses (i.e. it lives permanently at the office on the other side of town from my home, and the main users are my employees for business purposes).

Examples are a computer monitor, sound recording kit, office chair, laptop computer, external hard drives, wall multi-plugs etc.

Am I within my rights to sell them (as an individual) to my business. I'm guessing if I do that there would be a small tax saving, insofar as my profits would go down reducing corporation tax, and that as a small second had sale there would be no income tax implication. I assume that so long as I charge myself less than market value (and I am imagining charging say a third of RRP for everything to recognise second hand value) that is reasonable? If so what accounting records should I keep? I am guessing I just write an itemised invoice and list everything included the RRP and the second hand price I am recovering so if the tax man ever queried it he could physically see exactly what it is in the office and assure fair value.

Or is it a can of worms best avoided for saving what is likely no more than a hundred quid?

Really interested in what standard practice is on this kind of thing.

Errata

Second hand office kit has an exceedingly low value, I can't see selling it to the business would be worth the hassle.

antrobus

happywarmgun wrote: »

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Am I within my rights to sell them (as an individual) to my business....

People 'introduce' personal assets into their businesses all the time. It's fairly standard practice. Simply ensure that you place a 'fair value' on the assets involved. If you have an accountant they will advise you.

DJBenson

I recently started contracting, only a month after purchasing a new printer for personal purposes and I "sold" it to the business for the full purchase price on the advice of my accountants.

I simply wrote an invoice from me to the business declaring the transfer of ownership then paid myself the "expense" from the business account.

It might have been the timescales between purchase and incorporation that made my situation easier as on paper it looks like a "normal" expense claim of personal cash for business expenditure.