I was just wondering if I can claim a percentage of tax back for house hold bills as I work from home, for example electricity, gas, cleaning and water? I have been told that yes you can claim a percentage back and then someone told me no you can't. If I can how much percentage?
Yes you can, but the majority of home workers opt to claim a fixed allowance of between £8 and £10 per week to cover the business share of light and heat, water etc. This allowance is multiplied by the weeks in your accounting period and included as an expense in the profit and loss account.
You can certainly opt to claim a percentage of these costs instead of a fixed allowance, and you would therefore need to determine an appropriate method for calculating this. For example you may decide to claim 20% of all electricity costs and water costs based on what you believe to be the business use of such services. Be aware though that you may need to justify this to an HMRC inspector if your tax return is ever investigated.
Dustin
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"People who are exceptionally good in business arent so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more"
Thanks very much for your reply, if I were to do the fixed allowance of between £8 and £10 per week, how would this go into sage? and also you don't need to be VAT registered to claim the allowance do you?
In Sage you would need to debit a profit and loss account. There won't be one set up as a default so you will need to create a new one called Use of home as office, normally in the range of 7000 to 8999. You would then need to credit the funds introduced code if you're trading as a soletrader, or the directors loan account if your trading via a limited company.
You don't need to be VAT registered to claim this allowance.
Dustin
__________________
"People who are exceptionally good in business arent so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more"
I'm thinking about going self employed. I still live at home though and pay a set amount each month that goes towards bills such as telephone, water and electricity. My dad is also self employed and puts the above bills through his books. I was just wondering what I would do, if anthing, to claim any money back. Also can food/drink be claimed?
