Hello, I believe if a sole trader is working from home that £3 a week can be claimed as an expense. What does this cover? Is it possible to claim any additional costs such as heating and lighting or are these included in the £3?
Good news is that from 2012/13 that rate actually rose to £4 per week for use of home as office so a 25% benefit straight away from joining the site.
all the best,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
A sole trader claiming for use of home as office is slightly different than for an employee of a company.
A sole trader can claim a reasonable propertion of the houserunning costs that represent the space and time in which your office operation occupies your home. Such expenses includes electricity, gas, water rates, council tax, rent, mortgage interest and home insurance.
So basically you would add up all of the household costs and divide it by the number of rooms in your house (less kitchen and toilet). Then times by the percentage amount of time the room is used for your office operation (i.e. 8 hours a day use would mean that you use it 33% for office use)/
Please note that when the new cash accounting rules come in HMRC will allow sole traders using the scheme to make a claim for use of home as office based on the number of hours worked per month:- £10 per month, if worked between 25 to 50 hours per month; £18 per month, if worked between 51 to 100 hours per month; £26 per month, if worked over 101 hours
This has probably been asked before but if you have a home office set up and it's used nearly only for work use would you use 90% or only the 8 hours a day. Can it be argued that the office is still there overnight receiving emails and being an office?
This has probably been asked before but if you have a home office set up and it's used nearly only for work use would you use 90% or only the 8 hours a day. Can it be argued that the office is still there overnight receiving emails and being an office?
Are you saying that the room is being used as an office only? Because if you are, then the Private Principal Residence Relief for capital gains tax would be lost on that area of the house if and when the house is sold!
I go out for a day and look what happens! Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply. So not only can I claim the £4, I can also claim a % of other household cost.