Working From Home - Calculating Expenses

[Jennie Stamp]

If you're working from home, do you know how to calculate your working from home expenses? We have recently put together this handy working from home expenses infographic to help sole traders calculate everything.

Alternatively, there is also another if you're a limited company working from home.

Are you claiming for everything you can be?

 

[Robert Frost]

This is good to know, Thankyou I will pass this on to others I know - This info will be useful for them

 

[eeyorebob]

Not just sole traders either. If you are a remote worker in the UK there are lots of things you can claim on your tax like lighting etc

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

Thanks this is a good resource. I would suggest that everyone who spends time working from home should check this out, because there are things that you can claim for which you might not have thought you were able to, and you might find that it helps a lot when it comes to being able to pay the bills at the end of the month! On the whole, I think that working from home is cheaper than going out to work and having to pay for transport, and being able to claim back on certain things makes it the case even more.

 

[Pete Brindle]

There are things that you can claim for which you might not have thought you were able to.

Agree with you here. Even if you use your laptop for work, you can claim a portion of the cost when you buy a new one. Or if you have to buy a printer and ink to print off your invoices, or letters to send to people, or your internet bill. There are a great number of things that you're able to claim for, which is brilliant, as you can save so much money if you work it out properly.

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

Agree with you here. Even if you use your laptop for work, you can claim a portion of the cost when you buy a new one. Or if you have to buy a printer and ink to print off your invoices, or letters to send to people, or your internet bill. There are a great number of things that you're able to claim for, which is brilliant, as you can save so much money if you work it out properly.

When I first realised just how much I could be claiming for when I work at home, that's when it made me think that it could be a full time option for me - because the office costs far too much to run, and I could claim back a portion of the things that I use in my home, plus some of the energy bills for the office that I work in. It is brilliant that there is this type of support available from the government, because it means that people are given more options than before about where and how they work, and that can only be a good thing for the future of the economy.

 

[Lauren Turner]

I didn't claim for anything whatsoever in the first few years of working from home, so the taxman must have loved me. But then I realised that only I used the craft room so could claim for the cost of running that, the costs of travelling to shows and to get materials. It should only be my profits that I am paying tax on, not my overall income, yet I wasn't taking off any my costs and claiming them back! I've definitely learned from that now, and am much better off because of it.

 

[Gemma Rowlands]

I didn't claim for anything whatsoever in the first few years of working from home, so the taxman must have loved me. But then I realised that only I used the craft room so could claim for the cost of running that, the costs of travelling to shows and to get materials. It should only be my profits that I am paying tax on, not my overall income, yet I wasn't taking off any my costs and claiming them back! I've definitely learned from that now, and am much better off because of it.

The way I look at it is that you might as well. They're saying that you're allowed money for certain things, so why not make the most of it? If it leaves you with a little more to enjoy yourself with, or to invest into your business if that's what you want to do, then that can only be a good thing, for sure!

 

[Pete Brindle]

I didn't claim for anything whatsoever in the first few years of working from home, so the taxman must have loved me. But then I realised that only I used the craft room so could claim for the cost of running that, the costs of travelling to shows and to get materials. It should only be my profits that I am paying tax on, not my overall income, yet I wasn't taking off any my costs and claiming them back! I've definitely learned from that now, and am much better off because of it.

So many people work from home but don't really understand what they are able to claim for, and they find they're SO much better off when they sort it out. So have a good read about the types of things you CAN claim for, and make sure you're not missing anything out.

 

[Mike Turner]

Just to say, if you're in any way unsure about what you can or can't claim for, get an accountant. Have as much information as possible about your business, and exactly how you work from home. Keep your bills and receipts, take them, and they will be able to give you information. It is worth paying a fee, even if it's only a one-off for a meeting to get things straight.

 

[Emma Douglas]

Hello,
I started as a sole trader in May 2016. The car that I use is for both business and leisure and I have paid all petrol from my own account and not claimed it back from the business. I have kept a mileage log detailing all miles for business. Should I use the HMRC calculator and claim back 45p per mile from the business account? I thought that I read somewhere that if you did this then you could not deduct that expense from your gross income when calculating what your net profit is - therefore incurring more income tax? This whole thing confuses me, as you may have noticed, any help or assistance would be greatly appreciated. It is the same for working from home - I have never taken any money from the business account for household expenses like phone, electric etc?

Thanks

Emma

 

[MarkB]

Whether you take the money for expenses at the time or offset them against income at the end of the financial year is neither here nor there - the expenses will be taken into account either way in your accounts. As far as I am aware you can claim expenses when working from home but the rules change on a regular basis. You should find this page useful:-

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

 

[Aaron Reed]

its so much easier to work from home