Self assesment is fecking taxing

[nappyzoneloveschinesefood]

well shouldnt be but this yr it is so i have question i cant find in the 70000 pages of online help.

If i am claimimng outgoings because i work from home and totally use a room for the purpose of my business and nothing else whats the calcuation thingy of rooms eg... i know you divide say if elec was £100 for a year for my whole house (i wish) i recall i divide it by number of rooms in house but do you count them all eg kitchen, loo , utility or just certain types of rooms. My head is hurting.

Also does anyone know this years mileage rate to claim if claimimng per mile travelled as aposed to wanting to claim fo all sorts individually.

thanks oh wise ones.

I'm assuming you're self-employed rather than claiming expenses against your employment income.

mileage: 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, 25p for every mile thereafter. This is if you maintain the car privately.

working from home: you count rooms, including kitchen and bathroom when trying to apportion your costs. if you own the house and claim part of mortgage interest etc then be careful, it might mean you have capital gains tax to pay when selling.

Also, business rates might become a problem if you declare your home as your business premises. But this isn't an area i know much about.

thanks yes i am - oh ok i didnt think you counted kitchens and bathroom - neigh mind.

thanks for your help i will crack on....

You can use any reasonable method for apportioning utility bills, splitting by floor area might be better especially as the room you use for your office is likely to be bigger than your bathroom, for instance.

Try out the different methods and use the one that works in your favour.

There is a weekly amount for home office expenses which the Revenue will not dispute if it is not exceeded. Can't remember what it is at the moment though! Will get back to you if the synapses kick in...

thanks

the amount is £3 per week that HMRC wouldn't dispute but that's not really a significant amount if you REALLY work from home a lot of the time.

That's the one riksti. Though if you can provide a reasonable calculation of the costs with documents to back it up you can claim higher costs as you will be able to answer any queries the Revenue may have.

You don't normally count kitchens and bathrooms, these rooms are incidental to the main uses of the house for domestic and for business purposes (you make cups of tea and use the toilet while you are working for instance).

Provided you use the room for some non-business purpose there should be no CGT liability.

Example here.