Can I claim the costs of a cleaner against my taxes?

[PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt]

I work from home providing a healthcare service to the public. Can I claim all or part of the cost of a cleaner??

i would have thought so if you have people coming to your house for the service. you need to check with an accountant, however.

Maybe a percentage of one. Are there any accountants here?? Bump Bump!

Do the public that you serve actually visit your home ?

If not and you just work from a home office, then the best you'll get is claiming part of the cost of your cleaner (relative say to the size of your office compared to the size of the whole house that the cleaner is covering).

Easier still is just to claim an allowance for "use of home as office" say £10 a week, this avoids the need to calculate proportions of all your domestic bills.

They do come to my home and we use a dedicated room, the hallway and toilet facilities.

I already claim the £250 per year pro rata which is that 'use of home as office' possibly??? that's just for electricity etc. Does that include the cleaner??

the HMRC have cracked down on use of home as office recently, they allow £2 per week atm!
I would say you would probably be ok claiming a proportion of the cost - but I'm not sure they would agree a space pro-rata is you have an investigation - which takes longer a bathroom or the office, the kitchen or the office etc.

you have to be careful about claiming too much on your taxes because they will then start saying "ok, your house is zoned as residential, have you applied for planning permission for change of use to enable you to run a business from home? are you paying business rates?"

not worth it to save a couple of quid IMO

good advice and fair enough. Am I wrong using the £250 base figure then for my 2006/7 taxes?

i think yes, if the public come to your house. There was something in this week's Sunday Times "Money" supplement about the ability to claim tax relief for a gardener because when a person works from home, it can be claimed on the grounds that the garden had to be tidy and presentable to clients visiting the home, because it is also used as business premises.

Extrapolating that argument, clean and presentable surroundings and the cost of providing that should be tax deductable.

Yes I saw that article and that's what got me thinking but I think it's probably the right thing to just not worry about it for fear of extra hassle.