Can I buy a new phone through my business?

**DaveB** · 21 August 2008, 10:46

Best thing to do would be to get a seperate dedicated line put in for the business. Company can then pay for everything regardless.

**Spacecadet** · 21 August 2008, 10:48

Is it going to be kept and used in a room which is now a dedicated office?
if so and based on what you said about features you need, i'd say yes...

If its going to be kept in a room thats also used by the family then it might be simpler to just take the tax hit.

I'm not an accountant.

**pmeswani** · 21 August 2008, 10:52

Originally posted by d000hg View Post

I am a freelance developer, working 100% from home with remote clients. I spend 2-5 hours each week on the phone to my clients, but our home phone is old, shoddy and ill-suited to meetings - no mute, no headset support, etc.

I need to get a new phone but I'm not sure if I can just buy it as a business expense. Technically it could be used for non-work purposes but I would be buying it specifically to use for my business.

Do I need to be worried here? Or just go ahead on the company credit card?

Why not get a mobile phone package on a business plan with a mobile phone company and get the whole bill paid off by the company?

**d000hg** · 21 August 2008, 11:48

Originally posted by pmeswani View Post

Why not get a mobile phone package on a business plan with a mobile phone company and get the whole bill paid off by the company?

Because my clients are in the US and my normal home provider (TalkTalk) give me free calls to the US. I have no problem with the phone-line, I just want a new phone to plug in to it.

I do have a dedicated study (well I will have in a few days) but does using the phone for non-business purposes raise a big problem anyway? I was allowed to make personal calls on the phone when I was an employee, and non-skinflint companies would often let you use a company mobile for personal calls (as long as you're not an idiot with it).

**jigsaw** · 21 August 2008, 12:19

Originally posted by d000hg View Post

I need to get a new phone but I'm not sure if I can just buy it as a business expense. Technically it could be used for non-work purposes but I would be buying it specifically to use for my business.

Do I need to be worried here? Or just go ahead on the company credit card?

I don't think you need to worry about this at all. It's a justified item of business equipment regardless of whether you could use it for personal use or not. In the grand scheme of things this purchase would be pretty irrelevant.

**kimera** · 21 August 2008, 19:59

Use Skype to call states and put through call charges on expenses? (maybe)

Its cheap as chips any way.

**BolshieBastard** · 21 August 2008, 20:19

Originally posted by jigsaw View Post

I don't think you need to worry about this at all. It's a justified item of business equipment regardless of whether you could use it for personal use or not. In the grand scheme of things this purchase would be pretty irrelevant.

^^^^^ Is right. You can buy a phone via the company and even use it for personal calls. There's no BIK on it either.

**d000hg** · 22 August 2008, 09:25

Does anyone know a good place to buy a phone? I need functionality like a mute button, speakerphone, able to plugin a headset, and sites like Currys either don't stock such phones, or don't advertise these features.

**basshead** · 22 August 2008, 09:35

http://www.shop.bt.com

Can I buy a new phone through my business?