📌 In short: bought a laptop, camera, bike or car before you officially started your business, and now want to deduct it? You usually can, but not at its original price. You bring it in at its residual value on your start date and amortize what's left. This article shows you exactly how.
🧭 The general rule: the 3-month window
When you start your activity, you can bring in investments you bought up to 3 months before your official start date at their full value, as if you had bought them as a business.
But many people buy their gear earlier than that: a laptop the year before, a camera two years ago, a car well before going self-employed. Those fall outside the 3-month window, so the full-price route no longer applies.
The good news: that doesn't mean you lose the deduction. It just changes how you enter it. 👇
💡 The residual value principle
If you genuinely start using the asset for your business from your start date, you can bring it in at its residual value, the part that isn't "used up" yet, and amortize that remaining value over the remaining period.
Think of it like this: the asset has already lived part of its useful life in your private hands. You bring only the leftover into your business.
💡 Three things change, one stays the same: you adjust the amount (residual value), the amortization period (remaining months) and the expense date (your start date). You keep the original invoice on file as proof. |
📋 How to calculate the residual value
Three simple steps:
Take the original price and the normal amortization period for that asset type (e.g. 36 months for a laptop, 60 months for a car).
Count how many months passed between the purchase date and your start date. That part is already "used up".
Subtract the used-up part from the original price. What's left is your residual value, the amount you bring in.
💡 Example: a laptop bought for €1,439.46 on 7 July 2025, amortized over 36 months = €39.99/month. Your business starts 16 July 2026, so 12 months (€479.82) are already used up. Residual value = €1,439.46 − €479.82 = €959.64, amortized over the remaining 24 months. |
⚙️ How to enter it in Accountable
Go to Expenses and open (or add) the asset.
Choose the right category for the asset (e.g. technology for a laptop, vehicle for a car), so it is booked as an investment and amortized correctly.
Set the amount to the residual value (in the example, €959.64).
Set the expense date to your business start date, not the original purchase date.
Set the amortization period to the remaining months (in the example, 24).
Click Save to clear the "to review" badge so it counts toward your deductible costs.
⚠️ Keep your original invoice. The purchase date on the invoice is your proof and stays as-is. Only the amount, period and expense date are adjusted to reflect the residual value from your start date.
🚗 A note on VAT and cars
If you bought the asset privately (before being VAT-registered), there is no VAT to recover, so you enter the residual value including VAT. And for vehicles, amortization always starts from your activity start date, with the usual professional-use percentage and CO₂ deduction cap applying on top.
⚠️ When to check with a tax coach
The residual-value route for older assets is a case-by-case judgment call. It depends on whether you can genuinely show the asset was put into professional use from your start date, and the tax authorities look at that "intention to use professionally".
🚨 Before entering a big-ticket asset (like a car), check with a tax coach. Getting the residual value or period wrong can misstate your deduction and create a mismatch with the invoice. |
✨ Recap
Field | What to enter |
Category | The right investment category for the asset (e.g. technology, vehicle) |
Amount | Residual value on your start date (not the original price) |
Expense date | Your business start date |
Amortization period | Remaining months of the normal period |
Invoice | Keep the original on file, with its original purchase date |
Questions about bringing in an asset you bought before starting? Our tax coaches are happy to help in the chat or by email at support@accountable.eu 💜