Newly Self-Employed person WFH - what can I expense?

valencia19

Hi there,

I work 35 hours per week as a virtual marketing assistant and one day a week on a Thursday I do property inspections (6 hours a week), all self employed.

I’m using my car for the inspections and I use QuickBooks so I have a very good idea of the mileage but I’m wondering what else I can claim as expenses for using my own vehicle?

and how does it work in terms of rent and bills - I’ve read all the information of gov.uk but of course would appreciate getting this explained to me by a real person with real experience. I live in a 2 bed house and I use my bedroom as an office during the day. 

Simplified expenses says £10 a month but my rent is £15,600.00 per annum and then I have electricity and council tax bill on top of that which I know I can make a snail claim for, same with mobile phone and internet. 

What is the easiest way to calculate all of this when I don’t have a separate room for an office in my house?

thanks 

DullGreyGuy

If you are claiming mileage then nothing else for the own vehicle as the amount is supposed to cover fuel and wear & tear etc. Obv if you are paying to park or using toll roads those fees are separate. For the avoidance of doubt, if you ever get fines for speeding, yellowbox junction, bull lane use etc you cannot put them as expenses.

Simplified expenses is the simpliest and safest route... if you want to claim anything more then you need to calculate your actual costs. For example my laptop is efficient and can be run from a 20w charger and so even if it was taking maximum draw that would be 5p per day (assuming 8 hours working).

As you dont have a separate room then none of your rent can be applied. If you did have a separate office then there can be other complications. But then... how much has your rent increased to be able to work from home? None as you didnt have to rent a home with an extra room to use as an office?