Its Tax Time

[Imagine]

Clear your history before Mrs. Wayne see's that!

After reading about what they're allowed to claim for (it's written by a firm of lawyers by the way), I think I need to clear history, bleach my eyeballs and forget I ever saw it (interesting examples of capital expenditure ).

[Andy P]

gotta love writing off your bum beads

[Shaun]

Please keep things family friendly folks. Thanks.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

My advice is to to listen to people on forums and to get an accountant.

They will save you money in the long run.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

I find all of these issues disappear when you don't declare your earnings :-P

j/k i'm currently more annoyed with hmrc than usual over a bull penalty they've hit me with after paying a hefty sum for last year's sa.

[ukpartydj]

Be careful. If you claim expenses like home improvements then any profit when you sell the property will then partially be a business profit, and you'll have to pay tax on that. So you're probably better not claiming 1/8th of a £3k rewire, if that then means you'll be having to pay tax on what will probably be a much higher than £3k capital gain when you sell up (whereas if your property is only used for your home, then you don't pay capital gains at all).

What you can do as the property owner is rent the business a room for the office...but that has complications as well.

Speak to an accountant!

I shall be talking to my accountant later in the year, however this sort of thing was mentioned when we spoke last year.
Anyway I've just been reading quite a bit about the use of home as office and obviously applying my personal circumstances to it which may apply to many of us. I will abbreviate what I've learned so far to save anybody else the hassle!

1) You may need permission from you mortgage provider or landlord.

2) You can claim a proportion of the cost of things like council tax, heating, lighting, phone calls and broadband.

3) You may need to pay Capital Gains Tax on the part of your property you used for your business if you sell your home.
3a) You don’t pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell (or ‘dispose of’) your home if all of the following apply:
you have one home and you’ve lived in it as your main home for all the time you’ve owned it
you haven’t let part of it out - this doesn’t include having a single lodger
you haven’t used part of it for business only
the grounds, including all buildings, are less than 5,000 square metres (just over an acre) in total
you didn’t buy it just to make a gain

4) You may have to pay business rates on the part of your property that you use for your business.
4a) You don’t usually have to pay business rates for home-based businesses if you:
use a small part of your home for your business, eg you use a bedroom as an office

It didn't mention it specifically on the gov.uk site however I was told last year that you can include a porportion of the interest from your mortgage also.
I've only just taken out a mortgage so obviously the interest is the majority of the payment.

[ppentertainments]

My advice is to to listen to people on forums and to get an accountant.

They will save you money in the long run.

The best advice so far - however seldom taken on board.

[scott23]

The one I don't know....I've got to buy a new suit for the number of weddings I now do (my old one's getting past it). It's literally the only time I wear a suit...is that a tax deductible expense, or have I got to buy that one from my own money?

Unfortunately suits aren't tax deductible. You could try to argue its a costume, but doubt it would wash.. The way they deal with clothing is that it has 2 purposes. 1 being keeping you warm!Its quite mad as some cases like waiters suits is deductible but a general suit isnt. Also the logo thing is pretty grey area too as they can also be worn outside of work to keep you warm.

Best get a accountant to sign off your books!

Be careful also that your tax return is defo submitted. I had a issue where my tax return was sent, never received online! was travelling and came home to a 3 grand fine. New rules meant they just keep adding charges. I wrote them a letter and they wrote it off as they could see it was a mistake. But still ah was ting it.