Home based self employment - proving rental expense

BISHOPS

Dear friends,

I would like a little advice about proving that I pay rent for tax purposes. I am currently self employed (online retail), running a small online mail order retail business from home (earning no more than a couple of thousand pounds a year). I hope to claim 7.5% of my rent (along with a proportion of bills) as allowable expenses.

The issue is that I do not strictly have permission from my landlord to run my business from my home. I do not want to seek permission in case it is denied.I do not want to ask as my landlord is a little "funny".

In order to prove that I have incurred the expense (paid the rent) I would ideally get a statement of monies paid from the letting agent.

Question: Would HMRC accept bank statements with the figure paid each month alongside the letting agent's name as proof that expense had been incurred if I was ever to be asked for proof?

I would also like to ask the same question about proving gas bills/water rates have been paid. Is a bank statement enough?

Many thanks

BISHOPS

Has anyone on the forums ever claimed a proportion of rent as an allowable expense before?

Savvy_Sue

Yes, people on this board have made such claims. I doubt if HMRC would ever ask to see a receipt for your rent or your bills unless they found reason to investigate / audit your returns. If you do not make unreasonable claims, they are highly unlikely to do so.

There are various options for making the calculations: % of living space used for business / flat rate of £x per week ...