Help with business startup

Gertie_Walker

Maybe this would help:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47815.htm

But, again, it states there are no hard and fast rules and anything reasonable will be accepted and that an Inspector basically has bigger fish to fry than adjustments for a gas bill.

debbie42

paulwf wrote: »

They used to do a scheme where if you claimed £2 a week for home usage you didn't need to provide full utility bills. The "nominal amount" scheme worked well, I thought it had gone up to £3 a week but can't see a guide that backs that up or says it is still running.

This one?
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-household.htm

It does say that this is for people "employed to work from home", so not self-employed, but it's easy to see why it could be construed as such.

debbie42

I've always been under the impression that you could claim a flat £3 p.w., for using parts of your home as self-employed. It's interesting to read otherwise.

Maybe someone could clarify: if I use one room primarily for work and study, as long as it is sometimes used for other things (mine doubles as a guest room, so has a bed in it) then will it avoid potential issues regarding business rates, CGT etc.?

Gertie_Walker

The use of part of your house for something other than living in is really unlikely to attract CGT. You would have to use a large chunk of your house for an extended period of time for this to kick in. The only times I have seen it were in the days when GP's, dentists, etc would own huge houses and set aside 2 or 3 rooms for their surgeries for 20+ years. You need to consider the options - wouldn't it actually be more expensive to rent an office somewhere else to carry out your business?

debbie42

I'm just trying to avoid any potential future hassle :-)

eventer

debbie42 wrote: »

Maybe someone could clarify: if I use one room primarily for work and study, as long as it is sometimes used for other things (mine doubles as a guest room, so has a bed in it) then will it avoid potential issues regarding business rates, CGT etc.?

I can't answer on the CGT front, but in terms of business rates, it entirely depends on your type of business and the attitude your local council takes to it all. My local planning authority is of the opinion that if you run a clerical-type business out of a room of your house which is also used for something else (eg our is also a spare room with bed etc in it), then you do not need to pay business rates. Some require you to pay rates on all business activity in a property, others only if you are doing something non-clerical (basically if it could upset your neighbours!) - there is (from the research I did 18 months ago), no hard and fast rule as far as I can tell.

Search your local council website and see what it says about their business rates policy.

paulwf

Gertie_Walker wrote: »

Maybe this would help:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47815.htm

But, again, it states there are no hard and fast rules and anything reasonable will be accepted and that an Inspector basically has bigger fish to fry than adjustments for a gas bill.

Thanks gertie - that's cleared everything up. I'm happy to admit my understanding was wrong, especially getting it wrong between self employed and employed working from home allowances.

Gertie_Walker

Why, thank you, paul. I am sure the managers of the old Inland Revenue will feel vindicated at having employed me as an Inspector of Taxes for 30 yrs.