Mobile phone and Broadband

[SueEllen]

How about the Blackberry, can the contract be in my company’s name?

Yes.

There was a post on the front page of this site a couple of weeks ago explaining that a Blackberry, iPhone etc isn't considered a mobile phone by HMRC so if you want one to use for calls then you better off putting it in your company name.

[Jog On]

I claim all of my mobile phone bill and all the broadband which are both in my name (as advised by my accountant) as well as £65/month for use of home office

[kellycell]

I claim all of my mobile phone bill and all the broadband which are both in my name (as advised by my accountant) as well as £65/month for use of home office

£65/month, wow that's a lot! What does everyone else claim / month on this?

[TykeMerc]

£65/month, wow that's a lot! What does everyone else claim / month on this?

Despite working from home much of the time I was advised that use of a home office that's part of my house should be expensed at £156 for the whole year which is what I did last year.

My mobile is literally speaking a personal deal, but the bill has the company name on the address and the DD is from the company account.
The phone and broadband I was advised that I couldn't claim for so I don't.
On matters like this I'm comfortable to trust the advice of the accountants as that's their field of expertise not mine.

[Clare@InTouch]

£65/month, wow that's a lot! What does everyone else claim / month on this?

It will depend on each person's bills and the time they work from home. If you're just doing admin work then we would usually suggest what Tyke does - £156 a year. You can claim this without needing to justify it.

If you work from home for a day or more a week then there's the possibility you can claim more, but you must be able to show logical calculations. There is a lot of guidance on the HMRC website about this, along with some examples:

Specific deductions: use of home: examples

As with a lot of things it's something to discuss in full with your accountant who can then advise on your specific circumstances.

[TykeMerc]

Fair point Clare, I'll have a word with my accountant as since last April apart from a total of maybe 15 days in client and site meetings my work has been entirely home based via VPN and phone, maybe they missed a trick there.
All calls have been on my mobile though apart from telecons on an 0800 number so no actual land line phone call costs. My home phone and broadband deal is unlimited so again no extra costs directly attributable to business use.

[xoggoth]

This one.


Employment income: household expenses: broadband internet charges

EIM01475 - Employment income: household expenses: broadband internet charges
Section 316A ITEPA 2003

We are often asked if employers can reimburse an employee’s broadband internet charges, tax free, under Section 316A.

The section applies to reasonable additional household expenses. So if an employee who begins to work from home under homeworking arrangements (see EIM01472) is already paying for a broadband internet connection at home, there is no additional expense. The employer cannot, therefore, reimburse the employee’s broadband internet charges, tax free, under Section 316A. Any such payment that the employer may decide to make should be subject to PAYE and NICs.

On the other hand, if the employee does not already pay for a broadband internet connection at home, and needs one in order to work from home under homeworking arrangements, the broadband fee is an additional household expense that the employer can reimburse, tax free, under Section 316A.

[SueEllen]

Despite working from home much of the time I was advised that use of a home office that's part of my house should be expensed at £156 for the whole year which is what I did last year.

I was told I could do it two ways:
1. The straight forward claim way of £3 per week
2. The more complicated work out your bills way

My broadband is though the company as it's the only way I could ensure I would get the most reliable connection.

[Jog On]

I do quite a bit of plan B work on the weekends and evenings as well- all through the same LTD. Not sure how this weighs up

[kellycell]

So I had a look at the deals for BBs and there are cheaper deals for consumer than business contracts.
So can I just get a consumer contract and then expense the monthly bill back via the company?

thank you.