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Self Employed and working from home.

(5 Posts)
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biglouis Wed 20-Apr-22 16:24:10

Allowable expenses can include property rent, mortgage interest and council tax, business rates, water rates, electricity , gas, insurance and security costs. Phone, broadband etc can also be claimed but you must work out the % of business to private use and only claim for business.

With the huge rise in fuel bills, broadband etc rather than claiming the usual flat rate it might be more advantageous to use your bills to work out the actual % of use for your home and claim that way.

So if your home has 5 rooms and one is your home office, workshop or whatever it would mean working out the actual cost for one 5th of your home rather than using the simplified expenses/flat rate method.

In the above example instead of paying £300 pcm for gas/electricity you can claim back £60 of that as a business expense.

Similarly for water rates, council tax, insurance and so on.

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Ro60 Sat 23-Apr-22 08:43:56

DD had worked from home since 2020 since she only works part-time & earns v little can't claim expenses as she doesn't pay tax. Well, this is what she's found - if anyone knows different do tell.

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Oopsadaisy1 Sat 23-Apr-22 08:53:39

But when you sell your home don’t you have to pay extra taxes as it’s been a place of business rather than just a home?

I’ll nip off and check

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Oopsadaisy1 Sat 23-Apr-22 08:56:38

Cant find anything, so I must have dreamt that.

Ignore post!

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biglouis Sat 23-Apr-22 13:19:59

You mean capital gains tax on the part of your home which was used "commercially"? That only applies if the part in question had been "exclusively" used for business.

Sticking a computer and a desk in a spare bedroom or dining room to use it as a home office does not count because the room can still be used for its original (domestic) purpose. Having something you call a home office is quite common with employed people.

It would be different if you had for example installed machinery or equipment to make that part of your house into a studio or workshop, If you then used it to make goods which you sold in the business then it could not conveniently be used for domestic purposes. It would have become a workshop or studio so it would be for "commercial" use.

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