[rich007]

I have read all question welcome. ...Even if they are silly

Can you put these down as expenses.
phone line £10.99 pm
mobile £25pm
1 bed flat Hampshire....How much u allowed to put down.  I have been told £100pm?...Is this true?

Does any one put broadband down as expenses?

Any help would be excellent.....

Thank you for your time

[Paul Coleman]

I have read all question welcome. ...Even if they are silly

Can you put these down as expenses.
phone line £10.99 pm
mobile £25pm
1 bed flat Hampshire....How much u allowed to put down.  I have been told £100pm?...Is this true?

Does any one put broadband down as expenses?

Any help would be excellent.....

Thank you for your time

I'm not an accountant and I suggest you get one.
However, until then (and don't rely on this as I'm not qualified) you can book telephone and mobile costs as tax deductible expenses so long as you use them for business purposes.  My landline and mobile are used part business/part private so I have a proportion of both as tax deductible expenses.
As for the one bedroom flat in Hampshire, you don't say if you rent it or own it but it may not make any difference depending how you calculate it.  My view is that you can book a proportion of gas and electricity bills as you probably use a washing machine partly for work stuff such as overalls, possibly scrims and you need to keep warm while doing your paperwork etc.  Maybe a reasonable flat sum will be OK.  If you are renting, it may be regarded as reasonable to book a portion of your rent against tax if you are using it partly as an office.  The tricky bit may come if you own the property or paying a mortgage on it.  If you want to book a proportion of the property against tax, you will be liable to some capital gains tax when you sell it (assuming the property has increased in value).  This could end up being a substantial sum depending on how you calculate this so beware.

As for broadband, I don't book this as a tax deductible but I think I ought to.  Not all of it though - just a proportion.  It can be used to save accounts files securely (hopefully) by uploading them to web space, communicating with customers by email, perhaps using window cleaning forums is reasonable business use - and ordering stuff online of course.

You really ought to check what I've written with someone who is paid to know this stuff as I take no responsibility for any errors.

[Ian_Giles]

Basically agree with the above reply, you can claim for these things, but it has to be in proportion.
For things like your phone that percentage is going to be low, we all use one for business but for a small, one man outfit it isn't a big overhead is it?

As for claiming for your flat/house;

Claim the cost of one room for office use.
So if you have 8 rooms in your house or flat you can reasonably claim one eighth of your household costs.
ten rooms then just a tenth and so on.....not sure about a one room bedsit though
Heating, electric, council tax and so on.
If you put a percentage of your mortgage against tax then you can be liable to capital gains as Shiner has said...don't think I would recommend that!

For a real answer you need to ask an accountant.

Ian

[rich007]

Thank you.  I pay about £75 pm coucil tax.   What is a fair amount to put down for this cost? 

[rosskesava]

I don't know about other areas but I guess it's the same all over but with different names. Around the Brighton area there is a Government run thing called Edeal. They do really good cheap one or two day courses on many apsects of running a small business.

I found out about them through the council so it may be worth phoning your local council and asking.

There are also some good easy to understand books (which my missus tidied away so I can't find them to give you a tittle and author) - try a large bookshop.

Cheers

[WavieDavie]

Remember to keep receipts for EVERYTHING you spend or claim against the business. You've got to prove it's been spent to claim it back. But as others have said, get an accountant - they should save you more than you pay them.

[Paul Coleman]

Thank you.  I pay about £75 pm coucil tax.   What is a fair amount to put down for this cost? 

You could be delving into a dodgy area if you want to offset some of your council tax against income tax.  Although there is no problem with booking (some of) the running costs of a room in your house for admin purposes, council tax is another issue.  You could be into the realms of your property being a business premises with all the associated hassle involved.  Basically, council tax is for dwellings, business rates are for businesses.  If you start tweaking with this, if you play it by the book, you may be liable for less council tax (if the proportion removed from your home takes you down a band or two) but you would be liable for business rates on the business portion of your property (I think business rates are much higher than council tax).  This is if you could actually get the necessary permission to use part of your property as a business dwelling (very unlikely, especially as you live in a flat).  Added to that, you would need the necessary permission of the freeholder of the block (which also would not be granted.)  Also, bear in mind that council tax isn't just a tax on the property but also a tax on the person - a bit of both really.  This is borne out by the fact that sole occupants get a 20% discount.
Of course, if you just want to put it through as a miscellaneous expense and hope that you are never called upon to justify it, then that is your choice.  If you are ever called upon to justify it by the IR, bear in mind that they don't just strike it out and send you the higher bill, they also fine you extra for trying it on in the first place.

I suggest you leave council tax well alone as a tax deductible.

[WavieDavie]

Just remembered, you can't put parking fines against the business - they've got to come from personal drawings 

[JM123]

If you are using your home for the sake of business the general rule is 5% of costs can be claimed, for vehicle expenses the capital allowance stands at 25% per annum then 25% of the value the next year (1000,750,647.50 etc)  and remember, hmrevenue and customs will have a good idea already what your expenses etc already are so don't push the boat - be reasonable.