Self Employment - claiming for household stuff

csa

Hi,

I've only worked 1 to 2 days a week for 5 months as part of my self employment for 12/13. I'm trying to work out how to claim for my heating/phone/petrol etc.

From what I can see, I can calim £18 a month for heating/household expenses. and will claim for 1 days use a month for my mobile phone but not sure how to work out my petrol or anything else. I also want to add on the extra 2 hours a week I worked as part of my preperation. Please can someone help break this down for me?

Own_My_Own

If you are only working 6/8 days a month I doubt you are earning enough to pay tax let alone claim some back.

pmlindyloo

Own_My_Own wrote: »

If you are only working 6/8 days a month I doubt you are earning enough to pay tax let alone claim some back.

I agree, but I think you have to complete the form anyway.

You can do this online and this will give you longer to get organised.

My husband is self employed and I do all his record keeping.

I was 'talked through' how to keep records and what paperwork we needed to keep by our accountant. We then meet with him once a year, give him all the paperwork and he completes the tax form for us. It costs us £175 a year but if yours isn't complicated then it could be cheaper. Saves an awful lot of stress and worry.

Although you are only working for such a short period it is still necessary to keep everything correct just in case the tax man comes calling!

Pedent

There's no single right way to apportion expenses, but I found these examples of calculations from HMRC useful when working out a reasonable approach to take in my circumstances: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47825.htm.

csa

Hi,

I don't expect to pay any tax due to my low earnings, but would like to correctly calculate my allowances. I earn so little, I don't think it's worth my while consulting an accountant. This of course may change if I take on more work in the future.

Thanks for the advice...keep it coming!!!

chris1973

Is the business even earning you enough to pay yourself NMW?, not just for the time you spend running it, but also for the time on the background stuff like accounts