Let’s be honest here, for a lot of people working from home is the dream. Laptop out, PJs on, sitting the sofa with the dog by your side while you send those emails is the ultimate fantasy for some of us! It also makes life much simpler for some parents and can really benefit those who struggle with the traditional 9-5 role.
DO I HAVE TO HAVE A DEDICATED ROOM IN MY HOUSE TO CLAIM HOME OFFICE EXPENSES?
In many cases, no! One of the benefits of running your own business from home is that you can choose where you work from. For some a separate office space is best, for some it’s the sofa, kitchen table, garden, bed…wherever you end up.
However there are, of course, rules around this. You must be able to prove that you regularly spend time working from home. This means more than just putting your receipts in a box at home once a week.
Quite often we suggest you don’t use a single room for business 100% of the time as this can have capital gains complications when you sell your home. If you are using your spare room as an office make sure you have people to stay in it occasionally to make sure you are splitting the use of the room.
HOME OFFICES FOR SOLE TRADERS
As a sole trader working from home there are two options for how you can claim expenses. You can either claim them as a flat rate or you can work out the actual costs by calculating the proportion of personal and business use for your home.
The option to claim a set amount for your home office is based on amounts set by HMRC, which uses the amount of hours you work from home each month. You’ll need to work from home for a minimum of 25 hours a month to use this method.
Hours of business use per month Flat Rate per month
25 – 50 £10
51 – 100 £18
101 + £26
If you chose to calculate your actual costs by portioning out business and non business use, the infographic handily provided by freeagent below is the simplest explanation we think!
If you need help deciding what is the best option for you just give us a call.
View the full image at FreeAgent
