Hi all,

I am in the process of setting up as sole trader but I'm still in the planning and market research stage. I haven't registered yet as a sole trader just in case something rears it's ugly head during the market research that makes the business a non-starter.

I would like to buy a special (And not inexpensive) camera lens right now, the lens will eventually be used for my business but I need it at this moment in time to produce examples of the special images that I will be selling.

My question is this: If I buy the lens now but don't set-up as sole trader for another month or two can I still 'backdate' the cost and put the lens through the company accounts (Claim it back as an expense) when I come to do my tax return at the end of the financial year?

Many thanks in advance!

I THINK, but i'm not an expert, that you would need to buy it yourself first, then when you set up your business, you sell it from you the person to you the business and then it becomes tax-deductable. Not sure whether you can sell it at full value though as its not new?

This is a good question - can you get tax kick-backs on items bought for your company before having set it up?

We were allowed to offset the previous 6 months of purchases against a new business - the purchases were clearly business related.

Hi,

I set up a new business (Sarl) 2.5 years ago and backdated all the items I needed for the business. This is not a problem as long as you are buying this in Switzerland and not in another, less expensive, country.

Hope this helps