5 Tax Benefits You Should Know for 2018!
It’s nearing the end of January already (where has the month gone?!) and we hope your year has gotten off to a flying start! However, are you aware of some tax benefits that have come into play in recent weeks that you may not be taking advantage of? Keep reading to find out 5 tax benefits we think you should be aware of as we progress through 2018!
1. Employees and Company Vehicles
A lot of people try to steer clear of BIK (Benefit In Kind) like company cars, as they are just not as tax friendly as they used to be. However, that’s changing in recent times with the 0% BIK rate for electric vehicles now available for a minimum of 3 to 5 years. This is possible savings of up to €10,000 for low mileage company cars as well as 0% on electricity used to charge the cars in the workplace!
We think we’ll definitely be seeing a few more electric cars on our roads in the very near future!
2. KEEP – Key Employee Engagement Programme
A great result of Budget 2018 was KEEP – Key Employee Engagement Programme. This is share incentives for key employees in the workplace that is linked to the success of the business. Currently, employees can be hit with huge tax bills on share options or if the company is sold. The hope of the new KEEP scheme is that it will make Irish SME’s more competitive in the market where Global businesses can offer huge pay and benefits. Keep an eye on our blog where we’ll be explaining this in more detail in the coming weeks!
3. Accelerated capital allowances for energy efficient equipment
This has already been in the system for a while but it has been extended to 2020. The incentive allows you to claim back 100% capital allowances on the cost of energy efficient equipment in the year the asset was bought and put into use. The equipment must be on the Triple E Product Register which can be checked here.
4. Capital Gains Tax
The Capital Gains Tax exemption was brought into play in December 2011 to help encourage investors into the property market between 7th December 2011 and 31st December 2014.. The only stipulation is that the investor had to hold onto the property for seven years. The government has now brought in an early release date, reducing the 7 years to 4 years, meaning the gain on the property now is not subjected to the 33% capital gains tax!
5. Pre-letting expenses
As you’re probably well aware of, there is a huge shortage of homes available in the private rented sector. What you may not be aware of is the huge amount of vacant properties that are around Ireland at the moment. The Government is trying to encourage owners of these vacant properties (properties that have been vacant for over 12 months) to carry out routine repairs and maintenance works to bring these properties to the market standard in order to let them out. So long as the property remains in the rental market for 4 years, ‘pre-letting expenses’ can be used as a deduction up to the value of €5,000. If that’s not a great incentive to get your empty property on the market, I don’t know what is!
We hope some, if not all, of the above are of benefit to you! Don’t forget, if you’d like to know more information about anything we’ve mentioned, please drop us a line here! We’d love to hear from you!
