sole trader and cutting tax

Narva

Hello, my husband has registered as a sole trader, how can we reduce the amount of tax we have to hand over? how do we work out the heating and lighting of this office for tax reasons? please any advise would be really helpful.

longforgotten

you say 'of this office' do you mean a room in your home is used as an office ?

Narva

yes sorry i mean the computer room where he does his work from i understand he can put down heating and lighting as expenses? how do i work out how much to put down for costs?

longforgotten

In the accounts I've seen there is a separate expense shown and called 'use of home as office', and normally calculated by the accountant.

I would suggest you add electric, gas, and heating bills together for the year, and then divide by the number of rooms in your home to calculate a ballpark figure for one room.

Personally I would not include an amount for any mortgage you may have on your home.

In the scheme of things the monies involved in 'use of home as office' is small beer anyway.