Using room in home as office

jonesyboy27

Can I get tax relief using one room to work from home thanks for any info

sheramber

It depnds
Are you employed or self employed?
If you are employed is it in your contract that you must work from home  or is it your choice?

coachman12

jonesyboy27 said:

Can I get tax relief using one room to work from home thanks for any info

As sheramber implies, the answer is that you can get income tax relief in certain circumstances, and you need to address the questions mentioned above.
It is also possible in some circumstances to get your Council Tax Band ( and therefore your Council Tax costs) reduced if you use , say , one bedroom as an office.

TheCyclingProgrammer

coachman12 said:

jonesyboy27 said:

Can I get tax relief using one room to work from home thanks for any info

As sheramber implies, the answer is that you can get income tax relief in certain circumstances, and you need to address the questions mentioned above.
It is also possible in some circumstances to get your Council Tax Band ( and therefore your Council Tax costs) reduced if you use , say , one bedroom as an office.

I've never heard of any circumstances in which working from home could result in a council tax band reduction and even if that were the case you could find yourself liable to business rates.

If you're working by home because your employer has stipulated you should and not by choice (and I guess right now lots of people are working home not by choice) then you are entitled to a Section 316A deduction for the *additional* costs of working from home. You have two options:

* Calculate your additional costs as a result of working from home - this could be increased utility bills for example. You cannot apportion any fixed costs that you would have paid anyway like rent or mortgage interest. You should keep documentary evidence of how you have calculated these amounts.
* Claim a fixed amount per week - £6/week for the current tax year (£4/week previously). No additional evidence is required to make this claim.

coachman12

As just one example of lower council band, I would refer you to the site manager of a block of 2 bedroom flats where the property management company, as his/her employer, need the manager to carry out all the management,paper and computer work from the flat allocated to him/her. The Site Manager has a lower Council Tax Band ( and thus lower Council Tax payments) than all the other residents of the flats in the complex. Its a simple fact and is applied in the complex where my mother is one of the 40 owner/occupiers ---- her Council Band is one band higher ( as are all the flats in the complex) than the manager's flat whose Band has been reduced because he uses one bedroom as his office. Simple fact. So now you've heard of something you didn't know 

Jeremy535897

Indeed I have: https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/other-tax-issues/council-tax-and-rates

"What if I work from home?

If you work at, or from, home, the part of the property used for work may be liable to business rates rather than council tax.

The VOA considers a number of things when deciding whether or not part of your property should be liable to business rates. These include the extent and frequency of the business use of the room, or rooms, and any modifications made to the property to accommodate that use.

When using your home for minor business purposes, you will not normally be expected to pay business rates. However, each case is considered on its own merits, and the VOA may visit your property to check the facts before an assessment is made for business rates. Factors they may take into account include:

• extent of use of the relevant accommodation
• frequency and intensity of use of accommodation
• alterations made to the building to accommodate the business thereby losing the domestic character of property
• whether furniture and equipment are of a kind commonly found in domestic properties
• employees or clients coming frequently or regularly to the premises
• hours worked
• advertisement of business at the premises, that is, a nameplate on the door
• planning permission for building works or use of building being obtained. This is not conclusive but is indicative.

This list is not conclusive but indicative.

The VOA has helpfully published a number of examples to illustrate how they would approach the ‘working from home’ question and these can be found in the VOA’s council tax manual (see Practice Note 8)."

TheCyclingProgrammer

coachman12 said:

As just one example of lower council band, I would refer you to the site manager of a block of 2 bedroom flats where the property management company, as his/her employer, need the manager to carry out all the management,paper and computer work from the flat allocated to him/her. The Site Manager has a lower Council Tax Band ( and thus lower Council Tax payments) than all the other residents of the flats in the complex. Its a simple fact and is applied in the complex where my mother is one of the 40 owner/occupiers ---- her Council Band is one band higher ( as are all the flats in the complex) than the manager's flat whose Band has been reduced because he uses one bedroom as his office. Simple fact. So now you've heard of something you didn't know 

And how does this in any way relate to somebody using a single room in their home?
The bigger concern when running a business from home isn't that you'll somehow get a council tax discount, but that you'll have to pay business rates instead. This isn't likely to be an issue if you're just doing clerical work 9-5 on a weekday in your guest bedroom/home study but you're not going to get a council tax discount either.

coachman12

Oh yes, anything you say ..........................

lincroft1710

In blocks of flats where there is a warden, it is quite usual for a specific room to be designated as an office, usually near the warden's accommodation but not necessarily part of it as it may need to be easily accessed by other residents of the block, The scenario as described by Coachman 12 is perfectly feasible.

However in about 99% work from home situations, the "office" will be dual usage, being used for business purposes by day and non business purposes by night. For the remaining 1% unless it was blatant single usage especially with separate entrance and signage, the VOA would probably turn a blind eye, as it was more trouble than it was worth (I know I used to, on my sketch plans, you would never see "office", I described the room as a "study")

TheCyclingProgrammer

lincroft1710 said:

In blocks of flats where there is a warden, it is quite usual for a specific room to be designated as an office, usually near the warden's accommodation but not necessarily part of it as it may need to be easily accessed by other residents of the block, The scenario as described by Coachman 12 is perfectly feasible.

I didn't say it wasn't feasible, just that it bears no relation to the scenario of somebody working from a room in their home.

jimmo

lincroft1710 said:

In blocks of flats where there is a warden, it is quite usual for a specific room to be designated as an office, usually near the warden's accommodation but not necessarily part of it as it may need to be easily accessed by other residents of the block, The scenario as described by Coachman 12 is perfectly feasible.

In such a case would the warden's employer not be chargeable to business rates on their office?