Ltd company from 2017 how far back can I claim expenses?

Poshsalt

Hi,

I been making a game, each year its minus as im paying out expenses.

From 2017 its been about £10k a year.

Limited company was formed 2019.

How far back can I claim expenses such as wages, marketing etc.

The game is releasing July 2021.

Savvy_Sue

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

deedee71

In your first financial year you could have claimed for expenses paid put before incorporating.  Probably too late now.

Pennywise

You can't claim your own wages if you weren't registered for PAYE as an employer and weren't paying yourself - it's something you can't back date and one of the things you have to accept you've missed out on by not dealing with the formalities at the time.  Limited companies are like that - you need to have a good grasp of the administration, bureacracy, formalities etc re wages, expense claims, dividends, and VAT reclaims (once registered).  You can't change history and "creating" paperwork to make it look like things were done at the time is fraud.

Poshsalt

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

macman

You can only claim your expenses in the tax year in which they were incurred. So, for your next return you will be claiming your expenses for tax year 20/21, assuming you aren't late with your 19/20 accounts.
Whoever has done your annual company accounts up until now has been utterly incompetent if your business expenses were not included.

Pennywise

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

If they're not in practice currently, they're probably be out of date.  Only take advice from a professional you're paying for if you want to rely on their advice.

Savvy_Sue

Pennywise said:

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

If they're not in practice currently, they're probably be out of date.  Only take advice from a professional you're paying for if you want to rely on their advice.

You take the words right out of my mouth.

The ONLY advice you can rely on is the kind you pay for. If it's wrong, you can - if so minded - sue the pants off whoever gave it to you, and they'll have professional indemnity insurance to cover that eventuality. Us on MSE and your mates, not so much.

Of course it's good to do your own research too, but you have to trust your professional advisors.

macman

Pennywise said:

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

If they're not in practice currently, they're probably be out of date.  Only take advice from a professional you're paying for if you want to rely on their advice.

I don't think they'd need to be practising to know that you can offset allowable business expenses. And, if they did give advice that you couldn't, then they wouldn't be practising for much longer... 
Sounds more like the kind of advice you'd get from someone you bumped into in the pub.

Mistral001

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

Two friends who are accountants are not the same as an accountant that you have retained to give you advice.  The accountant you retain will delve into your particular situation and ask all the right questions before giving advice as they can be held responsible for any advice the get wrong.    

Savvy_Sue

macman said:

Pennywise said:

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

If they're not in practice currently, they're probably be out of date.  Only take advice from a professional you're paying for if you want to rely on their advice.

I don't think they'd need to be practising to know that you can offset allowable business expenses. And, if they did give advice that you couldn't, then they wouldn't be practising for much longer... 
Sounds more like the kind of advice you'd get from someone you bumped into in the pub.

We've already had some of the limitations about what and when you can claim set out, so it's not a black and white answer. 

Mistral001 said:

Poshsalt said:

Savvy_Sue said:

Talk to your accountant! That's what you pay them for!!

I have 2 friends who are accountants an they say oppisite things, so I just wanted to see what people said on here.

Two friends who are accountants are not the same as an accountant that you have retained to give you advice.  The accountant you retain will delve into your particular situation and ask all the right questions before giving advice as they can be held responsible for any advice the get wrong.    

Exactly. One of the OP's friends may know more of the OP's situation than the other: what seems like a simple question "how far back can I claim expenses ..." has to lead to the answer "it depends."