Landlord Question : Tax Allowance to replace damaged Fridge, Cooker and Dishwasher

deannagone

How long had the tenants lived there?  Were the white goods new when they moved in?

AlexMac

I agree with the majority view, above, that you CAN offset the cost of these electrical items against rental income when completing your Self Assessment. 

I don't understand _Penny_Dreadful's suggestion, above, that you can't?  I have always claimed for stuff like this over the past 25 years of letting out a fat and so, in case I'd screwed the taxperson, I followed the link to the government website in her post/

Here, in the bit about

"Replacement of Domestic Items Relief - calculating the amount of deduction"

It clearly states:

"The amount that you can claim as a deduction for a new replacement item is:

• the cost of the new replacement item, limited to the cost of an equivalent item if it represents an improvement on the old item (beyond the reasonable modern equivalent) plus
• the incidental costs of disposing of the old item or acquiring the replacement..."

So it seems I've not been fiddling my tax; phew!

A fridge, cooker and dishwasher are about as "Domestic" as you can get?

anselld

AlexMac said:

I agree with the majority view, above, that you CAN offset the cost of these electrical items against rental income when completing your Self Assessment. 

I don't understand _Penny_Dreadful's suggestion, above, that you can't?  I have always claimed for stuff like this over the past 25 years of letting out a fat and so, in case I'd screwed the taxperson, I followed the link to the government website in her post/

Here, in the bit about

"Replacement of Domestic Items Relief - calculating the amount of deduction"

It clearly states:

"The amount that you can claim as a deduction for a new replacement item is:

• the cost of the new replacement item, limited to the cost of an equivalent item if it represents an improvement on the old item (beyond the reasonable modern equivalent) plus
• the incidental costs of disposing of the old item or acquiring the replacement..."

So it seems I've not been fiddling my tax; phew!

A fridge, cooker and dishwasher are about as "Domestic" as you can get?

Since April 2016 you have been correct, you can claim under replacement domestic items.  Prior to April 2016 you could claim 10% wear and tear allowance but you could NOT claim for replacement domestic items as they were supposed to be covered by the accumulation of 10% allowances.
The exception was integrated appliances which were claimable under both regimes.

_Penny_Dreadful

AlexMac said:

I agree with the majority view, above, that you CAN offset the cost of these electrical items against rental income when completing your Self Assessment. 

I don't understand _Penny_Dreadful's suggestion, above, that you can't?  I have always claimed for stuff like this over the past 25 years of letting out a fat and so, in case I'd screwed the taxperson, I followed the link to the government website in her post/

Here, in the bit about

"Replacement of Domestic Items Relief - calculating the amount of deduction"

It clearly states:

"The amount that you can claim as a deduction for a new replacement item is:

• the cost of the new replacement item, limited to the cost of an equivalent item if it represents an improvement on the old item (beyond the reasonable modern equivalent) plus
• the incidental costs of disposing of the old item or acquiring the replacement..."

So it seems I've not been fiddling my tax; phew!

A fridge, cooker and dishwasher are about as "Domestic" as you can get?

As anselld said you didn't used to be able to claim for such items because it came under the wear and tear allowance so I'm surprised you've been making claims for the past 25 years.  I also linked to the gov website, which admittedly can be a bit iffy, which says...

Typical maintenance and repair costs

These include typical maintenance and repair costs that you are likely to incur, and which you can claim against your rental income:

• repairing water or gas leaks, burst pipes
• repairing electrical faults
• replacing broken windows, doors, gutters, roof slates/tiles
• repairing internal and external walls, roofs, floors
• repainting and redecorating (but not improving) the property to restore it to its original condition
• treating damp or rot
• re-pointing, stone cleaning
• hiring equipment to carry out necessary repair work
• replacing existing fixtures and fittings, such as radiators, boilers, water tanks, bathroom suites, and kitchens, but not electrical or gas appliances
  

So it seems the government forgot about their own Replacement of Domestic Items Relief.

SonnyLumiere

_Penny_Dreadful': "So it seems the government forgot about their own Replacement of Domestic Items Relief."

Maybe they could have mentioned it but the two things, i.e. a) allowable deductions for fixtures and fittings and b) a specific Relief introduced to allow a deduction for the replacement (not initial purchase) of certain domestic items, are entirely separate. The fixtures and fittings legislation and case law (some of it quite ancient) gets horrendously complicated, whereas a specific Relief is much more free-standing.
This is why I continue to recommend the HMRC manuals rather than high-level crib sheets on HMRC or accountancy websites.