Sole Trader working from home. What can I claim for expenses?

fengirl_2

The other thing to consider re CGT is the hassle which you may have to go through to rent an office outside your home - would you be tied up with leases and more expensive rents by doing this, rather than chance the very outside chance that a CGT charge MAY arise.

Dee_Castle

Right, I finally got around to trying to calculate my expenses. Does this seem reasonable?

Council Tax - Overall £723.12 - work area 1/5 of house and used 1/3 of time - Expenses Claimed (1/15) £48.21

Rent - Overall £5,880.00 - work area 1/5 of house and used 1/3 of time - Expenses Claimed (1/15) £392.00

Electricity & Gas - Overall £600.00 - used 1/3 of time - Expenses Claimed (1/3) £200.00

Home Phone, Mobile, Broadband - Overall £300.00 - used 1/2 for work - Expenses Claimed (1/2) £150.00

That's £790.21 in total and £65.85 per month. That seems reasonable to me.

borders_dude

You should check that you are actually permitted to use your home broadband for business purposes. My home broadband is with virgin media and I know from speaking to them that it is a breach of the terms and conditions of service to be using it for business purposes.

HappySad

Pennywise wrote: »

Council tax CAN be claimed as per the HMRC manual:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM46840.htm

I can never really understand why there is such confusion about what can and can't be claimed for use of home for business purposes. In my opinion, HMRC's business income manual re use of home is one of their best for its clarity and understandability which is certainly not the case for 99% of other aspects of business taxation. Have a read through their business income manual and you'll probably be surprised at how much they'll allow you in the way of tax deductable expenses.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47800.htm

HMRC's manual is also excellent for how to apportion:-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47815.htm

Here is HMRC's view on all the different types of household expenses that can be claimed, what can't and their reasoning behind it:-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47820.htm

Finally some examples from HMRC's business income manual:-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47825.htm

Thanks for taking the time to write up this with all the links. It really simply explains what can be claimed from the home. Basically a porportion of what is used and not the whole lot unless your business uses the whole lot.