Tax rebate - working from home?

[audi321]

Hi all, I am employed, and have been home based working for the past few years and having just boosted my heating due to the cold today, I have been thinking, can I claim an allowance for this?

Thanks for any advice!

[Eric Mc]

Are you working from home because it is a requirement of your employment or because it is an option you are allowed by your employer?

[audi321]

My employer doesn't have any offices local to me, so I have to work from home and I go out to visit clients from here.

90% of the salesforce of our company work this way.

[Eric Mc]

audi321 said:

My employer doesn't have any offices local to me, so I have to work from home and I go out to visit clients from here.

90% of the salesforce of our company work this way.

Is it compulsory - i.e. set out in your employment contract or implied by the terms and conditions of your employment?

[audi321]

I'm not sure it's actually laid out in my contract, but it's not optional. They pay for broadband, phone line etc, so it's expected yes.

[blueg33]

I have had the same issue in the past. If your contract of employment gives home as your place of work you can claim.

I claimed heating
Lighting
Electicity

It has the added advantage that any trip to an office is business mileage.

I still work from home mostly, but my contract says my place of work is the London office, so I am stuffed

[audi321]

My contract won't say I'm office based, because the company only has one office which is 200 miles from me. I can't find my actual contract right now.

If I were to claim, how would I prove what I had used by working at home? So is it water, gas, electric, council tax? Anything else?

[blueg33]

audi321 said:

My contract won't say I'm office based, because the company only has one office which is 200 miles from me. I can't find my actual contract right now.

If I were to claim, how would I prove what I had used by working at home? So is it water, gas, electric, council tax? Anything else?

Conncil tax is a risk, because you may end up paying business rates for the room you use and there is a slim chance you could be in breach of planning use class orders.

Basically, I spoke to Inland Revenue and agreed that my house had 10 rooms excluding kitchen, bathrooms and utility and that 1 room was used for work. The rebate was 1/10th of the bill.

Probably not the best way, but certainly the quickest and easiest

[Eric Mc]

audi321 said:

I'm not sure it's actually laid out in my contract, but it's not optional. They pay for broadband, phone line etc, so it's expected yes.

If it's expected then it an implied part of your employment contract and does indeed sound like it is compulsory. Getting this in writing would be the first step towards being able to make a tax relief claim for home office costs.

The key aspect of any expense claim by an employee is that the cost muct have been incurred "wholly, exclusively and NECESSARILLY in the course of the employment".

If the cost wasn't "necessary", then any claim is blocked.

[audi321]

Eric Mc said:

The key aspect of any expense claim by an employee is that the cost muct have been incurred "wholly, exclusively and {b]NECESSARILLY[/b] in the course of the employment".

If the cost wasn't "necessary", then any claim is blocked.

Good point, so how do I 'prove' it was 'necessary' for me to heat the office/building?

[Eric Mc]

audi321 said:

Eric Mc said:

The key aspect of any expense claim by an employee is that the cost muct have been incurred "wholly, exclusively and {b]NECESSARILLY[/b] in the course of the employment".

If the cost wasn't "necessary", then any claim is blocked.

Good point, so how do I 'prove' it was 'necessary' for me to heat the office/building?

Get it into your employment contract or obtain written confirmation from your employer.

[Rambaud]

There is some guidance on HMRC's website :

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-household....

[audi321]

I spoke to hmrc. Basically you can get tax relief for £3 per week if you don't want to provide detailed breakdown or higher if you prove it. This means that as a higher rate tax payer with the £3 per week, you will get about £62.40 per year back and a basic rate tax payer will get £32.20 for the year!!

Won't even pay for the heating for 1 month!

[Toro Rosso]

audi321 said:

I spoke to hmrc. Basically you can get tax relief for £3 per week if you don't want to provide detailed breakdown or higher if you prove it. This means that as a higher rate tax payer with the £3 per week, you will get about £62.40 per year back and a basic rate tax payer will get £32.20 for the year!!

Won't even pay for the heating for 1 month!

So then work out the actual cost and provide evidence? They are not going to give everyone a massive tax break with no evidence. This should not be a profit making exercise - if it costs you more to work from home claim the actual additional cost and back it up with evidence.

Both these options still need you to prove working from home is necessary though, so make sure you follow Eric's advice to check your contract or get something in writing from your employer.

[ellroy]

Paul give me a bell on this when you've got a chance.

I've done this through my accountant and can give you the skinny.

Regards