Advice on business council tax

persa

joshly wrote: »

A home owner.

In which case, as well as thinking about business rates, you need to be aware of the capital gains tax implications of what you're considering.

To oversimplify matters, if you buy a house, you live there as your home and then you sell it on, no capital gains tax.

If you start using part of your house solely for work, part of your house isn't exempt from capital gains tax and you can end up with a nasty bill when you come to sell (assuming you do at some point, most people don't live in one house forever).

The solution is to work in a room that you genuinely use for other purposes as well as your self employment. You might think it's a good idea to clear the room of clutter, make it into a study and then close the door when you're done with work, because that can help you mentally separate your work life from your home life, but if you go down that road, it's more than business rates you have to worry about.

zenmaster

We used to keep a sofa bed in ours.

Unobtrusive and handy for the odd overnight guest.

joshly

persa wrote: »

In which case, as well as thinking about business rates, you need to be aware of the capital gains tax implications of what you're considering.

To oversimplify matters, if you buy a house, you live there as your home and then you sell it on, no capital gains tax.

If you start using part of your house solely for work, part of your house isn't exempt from capital gains tax and you can end up with a nasty bill when you come to sell (assuming you do at some point, most people don't live in one house forever).

The solution is to work in a room that you genuinely use for other purposes as well as your self employment. You might think it's a good idea to clear the room of clutter, make it into a study and then close the door when you're done with work, because that can help you mentally separate your work life from your home life, but if you go down that road, it's more than business rates you have to worry about.

Good point persa and duly noted.
That just confirms that I will only use part of the spare bedroom for the desk and filing cabinet and use the rest of the room for gym equipment and ironing and airing clothes.