Required to have home office

PlutoinCapricorn

It is good to see that you are trying to claim everything that you are entitled to - that is what this forum is all about!

It seems that most related issues have been covered: health & safety; equipment; being reimbursed for small expenses on production of a receipt for example, and that your employer looks after the home based people.

You have pinpointed the basic remaining issues: heating & lighting and the extra rental. I still say that raising these points with the employer is a good place to start, and that the £3 per week allowance is intended to cover the electricity and similar costs. The extra room is another matter, I am not sure about this one. Was having a separate office really essential? Could you have used your personal desk? If your employer made an office a condition, perhaps a slightly higher salary might be a possibility.

AnxiousMum

With the economy at the moment Pluto I'm just happy to have the job still! They have actually been doing audits on various things lately - have found that many are using the company blackberries for many personal calls meaning that the costs of them on average have been about £60 more per month than the allotted contract, some people claiming excessive mileage for meetings that haven't taken place, excessive meals out etc. Luckily I'm not involved in any of that, and as I don't even get coverage on my work mobile from home - it's only used while out at a meeting or when I'm in a coverage area. So my expenses have been relatively low in comparison to some apparently - but the fact that they are auditing and questioning lots of stuff like that I doubt they'd be willing to increase any payments. They were very generous this year with a 9% pay increase for me - don't want to push it!

In terms of the extra room - yes it is really necessary on my terms, as I don't want my 'office' in my living room or bedroom - they are places for relaxing, not having 'work' staring me in the face 24/7. Also I have three kids in primary school, who when they get home at 3:30, I still need to be able to work and concentrate, use the phone without sounding like a 'mum working out of her home' to the schools/customers that I contact. Not necessarily 'needed' by Inland Revenue expectations I'm sure - but it allows me to do my job more efficiently - so even the added expense of that is my choice really.

However, the heating and electricity is needed while I'm at home working Is this something that I could contact Inland Revenue about? Is it a credit in taxes paid that I should be looking for?

Thanks - sorry to sound so thick, it's hard when you are familiar with how it works elsewhere, and trying to make sense of how it works in a new country!

fengirl_2

As I said in my post, it has to be a requirement of the job that you provide a room at home. Just working from home becasue it is convenient is not good enough for tax purposes. The legislation on allowable expenses for employees is very tight. It states that an expense has to be incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties. These rules are applied very strictly.
So, if your employer requires you to work from home, provide computers, phones and internet connection, then that would be allowable. Just using home to work from because you are waiting in for the gas man (as we all do, including me), is not allowable.

AnxiousMum

Thanks Ferngirl - as mentioned though - there are reps all over the country - so it's either work from our homes or our cars as Head office is just too far away to commute to! I will call Inland Revenue and see what they tell me - will post back here for others who may be interested as well. Thanks for all your quick responses - very much appreciated

AnxiousMum

Hmm, just went onto their website to get their number to call, and found the following (which by the way, is just as has been described above!) Thank you for your advice again, will get on it!

Tax relief for household expenses when working at home
If you are employed specifically to work at or from home, and have no alternative but to do so, you may be able to get tax relief on some of your household expenses. You can go back several years to get the relief - the time you've got depends on whether you've previously sent in a Self Assessment tax return.
Tax relief for household expenses if you have to work at home

You can get tax relief for the extra household expenses that you have to pay because you have to work at or from home. Typically these extra expenses include:

• the extra cost of gas and electricity to heat and light your work area
• business telephone calls

You won't be able to get relief on domestic expenses that you're paying anyway - like your mortgage or council tax. You also won't be able to get relief for expenses that relate to both business and private use - such as your telephone line rental, or Internet access.
How much relief you can get

You can get either:

• A flat rate deduction of £3.00 per week (from 2008-09) for each week that you've got to work at home. This doesn't include the cost of business telephone calls.
• A larger amount if your extra expenses are higher than £3.00 - but you'll have to show how you've calculated the figure.

The rate for 2007-08 and earlier is £2.00 per week.
What if you volunteer to work at home?

You might volunteer to work at home under a 'homeworking arrangement'. A homeworking arrangement is an agreement with your employer that you'll work at home on a regular basis.
You don't have to work at home every day but there must be a regular pattern - for example two days at home and three days in your employer's premises each week. The work you do at home must be work that you're required to do as part of your employment.
If you've got an arrangement like that, your employer can contribute towards your expenses of working at home - £3.00 per week (from 2008-09) or more if you can show that you had to spend more than that. You won't have to pay tax and National Insurance contributions on the amount. However, if your employer doesn't contribute you can't get tax relief for your expenses of working at home.

fengirl_2

Your post contains info which has already been given to you! It doesnt matter where HO is, or what other people do, the question is - what does YOUR contract state?

AnxiousMum

Sorry - thought it was obvious that I was contracted 'to work from home'. My contract is for 'home based employees'.

I did also state in the post that it was 'as described above' and thanked you all for your information. Just nice to see it confirmed on their website.

jiggy2

do you rent or own the property?

if you own - using one room exclusively for "business use" would result in you not getting principal private residence relief for capital gains purposes

fengirl_2

Jiggy, the chances of anyone being liable to CGT on the one room used for work when they come to sell their house are extremely thin. In 26 yrs I never came across such a case.

jiggy2

fengirl wrote: »

Jiggy, the chances of anyone being liable to CGT on the one room used for work when they come to sell their house are extremely thin. In 26 yrs I never came across such a case.

thanks.

would that however be as most people don't tend to think of it as their office when it comes to selling the house?

I have actually seen it whereby a client was claiming a proportion of his expenses (mortgage interest, light and heat etc) for rooms used specifically for business purposes (and nothing else) and HMRC were willing to allow it if later on PPR relief was not claimed on the same room...

that was in a self employed person's case rather than employed