Can lodger work from home?

Bookworm105

1404 said:

Edit:  I actually think that maybe you don't know the difference between Private Residency Relief and Lettings Relief.  That would explain your posts.

actually I do know the difference but i am not fully focused on what I'm writing on here as your wording is very loose and open to different interpretations.
You show by your mistakes you are only starting to know it yourself, for example 10 months + final 9 is not 19% occupancy over 10 years, it is 15.8%

Pease leave your actual tax return to an accountant who is familiar with CGT and sale of property - not all are 

1404

Bookworm105 said:

1404 said:

Edit:  I actually think that maybe you don't know the difference between Private Residency Relief and Lettings Relief.  That would explain your posts.

actually I do know the difference but i am not fully focused on what I'm writing on here as your wording is very loose and open to different interpretations.
You show by your mistakes you are only starting to know it yourself, for example 10 months + final 9 is not 19% occupancy over 10 years, it is 15.8%

Pease leave your actual tax return to an accountant who is familiar with CGT and sale of property - not all are 

Thank you for that.  I have amended the example on the previous page to reflect that 19 months in 10 years is 15.83%, and not 19%.  It does put the tax owed in the example up by a few hundred pounds.

It's for all these reasons that I will absolutely get an experienced CGT and sale of property accountant on board when it comes time to sell.  

I barely have a handle on this and there's too much scope for getting it wrong.

Emily_Joy

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

1404

Emily_Joy said:

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

If your landlord uses Rent A Room Scheme for your rent then you can only work from home in the evenings and weekends.

If your landlord doesn't use Rent A Room Scheme, and instead pays tax on your whole rent (and claims expenses against it) then you can work during the weekdays.

That seems to be the situation.

mybestattempt

1404 said:

Emily_Joy said:

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

If your landlord uses Rent A Room Scheme for your rent then you can only work from home in the evenings and weekends.

If your landlord doesn't use Rent A Room Scheme, and instead pays tax on your whole rent (and claims expenses against it) then you can work during the weekdays.

That seems to be the situation.

It isn't the situation at all.

A lodger working at home occasionally during daytime hours would be viewed by HMRC in the same way as a lodger working at home on evenings and/or weekends.

I would add that lodger has no need or responsibility to become involved in the landlord's tax affairs.

Emily_Joy

1404 said:

Emily_Joy said:

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

If your landlord uses Rent A Room Scheme for your rent then you can only work from home in the evenings and weekends.

If your landlord doesn't use Rent A Room Scheme, and instead pays tax on your whole rent (and claims expenses against it) then you can work during the weekdays.

That seems to be the situation.

 If I am at home writing some computer code on my laptop. I could be doing it for fun or it can be job - related. How the landlord is supposed to know?

1404

mybestattempt said:

1404 said:

Emily_Joy said:

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

If your landlord uses Rent A Room Scheme for your rent then you can only work from home in the evenings and weekends.

If your landlord doesn't use Rent A Room Scheme, and instead pays tax on your whole rent (and claims expenses against it) then you can work during the weekdays.

That seems to be the situation.

It isn't the situation at all.

A lodger working at home occasionally during daytime hours would be viewed by HMRC in the same way as a lodger working at home on evenings and/or weekends.

I would add that lodger has no need or responsibility to become involved in the landlord's tax affairs.

Your post didn't mention the Rent A Room Scheme. That's the key part. Under Rent A Room is the requirement to limit work to evenings and weekends. We've covered this quite a lot on this thread. And the wording of the guidance has been provided.

mybestattempt

1404 said:

mybestattempt said:

1404 said:

Emily_Joy said:

subjecttocontract said:

It seems that HMRC haven't moved with the times. WFH is the new normal for a large proportion of working age people AND surprise, surprise they WFH during the daytime. I guess HMRC might eventually get around to understanding how the new world order operates ! Although I wouldnt expect to much to soon.

I am actually a little confused now. Occasionally I work from home - for instance, if I need to finish important job-related paperwork I prefer to stay at home till it is done because there are less distractions than at workplace. Do I need to tell my landlord?

If your landlord uses Rent A Room Scheme for your rent then you can only work from home in the evenings and weekends.

If your landlord doesn't use Rent A Room Scheme, and instead pays tax on your whole rent (and claims expenses against it) then you can work during the weekdays.

That seems to be the situation.

It isn't the situation at all.

A lodger working at home occasionally during daytime hours would be viewed by HMRC in the same way as a lodger working at home on evenings and/or weekends.

I would add that lodger has no need or responsibility to become involved in the landlord's tax affairs.

Your post didn't mention the Rent A Room Scheme. That's the key part. Under Rent A Room is the requirement to limit work to evenings and weekends. We've covered this quite a lot on this thread. And the wording of the guidance has been provided.

I'm fully aware of the guidance, I believe I provided the link to it earlier in  the thread.

There is no hard and fast rule in the legislation which determines which days of the week or specific times of the day a genuine lodger renting residential accommodation in a landlord's home is working from home for the rent a room method to apply or not.

1404

I've actually decided in the last couple of days that when one of my two lodgers leave I won't be replacing them. Will have one lodger and earn less than the £7500 a year. I've grown weary of the worry about compliance and the requirement to complete a self assessment tax return each year. I will also be able to build up some PRR months just in case I need them when it comes time to sell. 

1404

1404 said:

I've actually decided in the last couple of days that when one of my two lodgers leave I won't be replacing them. Will have one lodger and earn less than the £7500 a year. I've grown weary of the worry about compliance and the requirement to complete a self assessment tax return each year. I will also be able to build up some PRR months just in case I need them when it comes time to sell. 

This is the part where someone says something along the lines of: "you do realize that there's a regulation about going down to one lodger and you are liable to pay a huge fine and/or a custodial sentence!" 

It just never ends! 😆