Shared expense between limited and sole trader

[MonkeyDonkey]

Say that I use my home office for both my Ltd endeavours but also some as a sole trader and other hustles.

With the rent, I assume I can just figure out a percentage and accordingly split per legal entity and contract. But what if I was to buy a shared hardware like a vacuum cleaner for the office? Who takes the bill and how is the expense propagated correctly?

[b0redom]

Why don’t you assign it all to one or
the other? If it’s use of hone as office, the amounts you’re talking about are tiny anyway.

also a vacuum cleaner only for the home office? Are you serious?

[northernladuk]

Say that I use my home office for both my Ltd endeavours but also some as a sole trader and other hustles.

With the rent, I assume I can just figure out a percentage and accordingly split per legal entity and contract. But what if I was to buy a shared hardware like a vacuum cleaner for the office? Who takes the bill and how is the expense propagated correctly?

Shared vacuum cleaner? You are taking the piss aren't you? It will have considerable personal use so is not wholly and exclusively so it's not claimable at all.

Also if you are splitting the rent and the LTD is paying then you are sub letting your home which I am pretty sure isn't allowed in your tenancy.

Speak to your accountant before you get in a right mess.

[northernladuk]

Thought you were going Inside via an Umbrella so no expenses allowed at all.

[Abbot]

Why don’t you assign it all to one or
the other? If it’s use of hone as office, the amounts you’re talking about are tiny anyway.

also a vacuum cleaner only for the home office? Are you serious?

It looks like OP actually wants to charge rent.

[MonkeyDonkey]

Shared vacuum cleaner? You are taking the piss aren't you? It will have considerable personal use so is not wholly and exclusively so it's not claimable at all.

Also if you are splitting the rent and the LTD is paying then you are sub letting your home which I am pretty sure isn't allowed in your tenancy.

Speak to your accountant before you get in a right mess.

My understanding is that it doesn't have to be exclusive, no? So if I have 2 rooms to clean, I was thinking to split the cost 50% between limited and personal usage.

With the rent what I did as sole trader was to calculate how much time I spent in 1 room working per year and use that as an expense. By googling around that seemed like an ok thing to do..

[MonkeyDonkey]

Thought you were going Inside via an Umbrella so no expenses allowed at all.

True but I'm planning to be working on my own projects on weekends for example and maybe very small contracts outside, not sure yet

[MonkeyDonkey]

Why don’t you assign it all to one or
the other? If it’s use of hone as office, the amounts you’re talking about are tiny anyway.

also a vacuum cleaner only for the home office? Are you serious?

Well I need a vacuum cleaner anyway. But I thought that I could maybe save some money since I will use it to clean my office room too. Might be a small expense but since I'm moving to a bigger place, I could probably do the same for any such shared items.

[northernladuk]

My understanding is that it doesn't have to be exclusive, no? So if I have 2 rooms to clean, I was thinking to split the cost 50% between limited and personal usage.

You would likely be wrong then. An expense has to be wholly and exclusively for the purpose of business to count. Some exceptions like phones. A vacuum cleaner is just taking the piss.

With the rent what I did as sole trader was to calculate how much time I spent in 1 room working per year and use that as an expense. By googling around that seemed like an ok thing to do..

I also googled that some people insert things in to their willys for fun but it doesn't seem like an OK thing to do.

It probably is when you've got a severe case of selective reading. There are caveats, one being you cant rent a room in an already let flat as your tenancy won't allow it and it's also not as clear cut as that. It needs a rental agreement and all sorts. Nearly all of us on here don't do this and instead use a flat rate alternative.

https://www.gov.uk/simpler-income-ta...king-from-home

[northernladuk]

Well I need a vacuum cleaner anyway. But I thought that I could maybe save some money since I will use it to clean my office room too. Might be a small expense but since I'm moving to a bigger place, I could probably do the same for any such shared items.

No you can't. Just use the flat rate amount like everyone else and be done.

If you use the room for anything else but LTD business it becomes dual use so again fails the wholly and exclusively rules.

It's not free, it's small amounts of money that is discounted because of tax and nothing more so it's going to be pretty insignificant but open you to investigation and if this is your approach to your tax affairs I'm sure you don't want that.

Rule of thumb for LTD expenses again. It has to be wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business.

EDIT : I'm sure someone will come along and point out you can actually buy anything you want through the company but it will incurr BiK so really not worth it.