How to work out expenses for mortgage?

[northernladuk]

CGT might not apply:
HM Revenue & Customs: Capital Gains Tax reliefs for business assets

You ready to give up yet or are our ladies gonna continue to beat the crap out of you all night????

[captainham]

The potential complexity of this for an extra few quid a month is truly staggering.

OP, PM me your bank details, I'll give you the cash myself each month, just to prevent the headache that the finer details of this thread are giving me!

[SueEllen]

The potential complexity of this for an extra few quid a month is truly staggering.

OP, PM me your bank details, I'll give you the cash myself each month, just to prevent the headache that the finer details of this thread are giving me!

There is no headache.

The OP can just read the relevant manual on the HMRC website and when he understands it can explain it to us all.

The issue the OP will have is that his estimated and appropriated costs aren't small.

[captainham]

There is no headache.

The OP can just read the relevant manual on the HMRC website and when he understands it can explain it to us all.

The issue the OP will have is that his estimated and appropriated costs aren't small.

I've now read the link from Sally@InTouch, which is related to PSCs only, and I think I mostly get it.

You can't claim anything for mortgage/rent, council tax, insurance, etc, as you have to pay that anyway. Same reason why you can't claim for food when you're at a permanent workplace as everybody needs to eat.

You can claim for extra gas/electricity used, plus extra water used (but only if you're on a meter), and phone calls for business...and that's it. The £4 a week allowance is meant for this and is designed to "ease administration", if you want to claim more then you need to keep records to back everything up.

I presume this means (for example) taking a log of your gas/leccie units at the start of the working day, making another note when you finish work, then attempting to figure out what these units are charged to you at (not easy as you normally get first xxx units at 1 price then remaining units at yyy price).

Sod that for a game of soldiers.

I didn't read any of the other links as I only read the stuff related to PSCs only, and as I'm assuming the OP runs a PSC, then nothing else is relevant.

Good luck with the admin on that! And don't forget, it needs to stand up to scrutiny from HMRC so the records had better be clearly documented and accurate.

PS. Thanks Sally, that was a good link!

[Sally@InTouch]

I've now read the link from Sally@InTouch, which is related to PSCs only, and I think I mostly get it.

You can't claim anything for mortgage/rent, council tax, insurance, etc, as you have to pay that anyway. Same reason why you can't claim for food when you're at a permanent workplace as everybody needs to eat.

You can claim for extra gas/electricity used, plus extra water used (but only if you're on a meter), and phone calls for business...and that's it. The £4 a week allowance is meant for this and is designed to "ease administration", if you want to claim more then you need to keep records to back everything up.

I presume this means (for example) taking a log of your gas/leccie units at the start of the working day, making another note when you finish work, then attempting to figure out what these units are charged to you at (not easy as you normally get first xxx units at 1 price then remaining units at yyy price).

Sod that for a game of soldiers.

I didn't read any of the other links as I only read the stuff related to PSCs only, and as I'm assuming the OP runs a PSC, then nothing else is relevant.

Good luck with the admin on that! And don't forget, it needs to stand up to scrutiny from HMRC so the records had better be clearly documented and accurate.

PS. Thanks Sally, that was a good link!

[d000hg]

Apart that nobody seems to have read the link and special rules for personal service companies!
I give up

This one: Other expenses: home: working from home: service companies?

It's legal gobbledegook! I was advised by your very company that my method was reasonable as long as I could show I was actually using my home as my place of work rather than keeping a nominal office.

So have the rules changed and I wasn't notified, because I've never seen that page before. And now I can't find the one that talks about using a % of your floorspace. EIM32815 - Other expenses: home: household expenses: expenses that are deductible says rent & council tax were only included up until 2006 but my company wasn't founded until 2007/8 and both my current accountant and my previous one discussed how working at home full-time, this WAS valid.

It seemed there were two totally separate paths... the flat £4/week, or the % of floorspace.

Given that every note references 1-3 other notes it's hardly surprising there's confusion. I've found over a dozen notes already.

[d000hg]

And then what defines a PSC? I have two current clients. One is local, a traditional contracting gig but I WFH as I don't have a car. The other is in another country and requires I work from my own site, I also provide a 2nd person tot hem alongside myself.
MyCo is also actively developing its own software products to sell.

So now what - am I a PSC or am I a real business which does some consultancy work?

[northernladuk]

And then what defines a PSC? I have two current clients. One is local, a traditional contracting gig but I WFH as I don't have a car. The other is in another country and requires I work from my own site, I also provide a 2nd person tot hem alongside myself.
MyCo is also actively developing its own software products to sell.

So now what - am I a PSC or am I a real business which does some consultancy work?

But this is your situation which is pretty different to the majority. In your case (which we weren't discussing when Sally posted the link) I would say you don't fall in to the catagory mentioned as it does mention some assumptions which you do not meet so is a non issue. For the other 99% of contractors who do meet these assumptions it is pretty black and white no?

[Sally@InTouch]

But this is your situation which is pretty different to the majority. In your case (which we weren't discussing when Sally posted the link) I would say you don't fall in to the catagory mentioned as it does mention some assumptions which you do not meet so is a non issue. For the other 99% of contractors who do meet these assumptions it is pretty black and white no?

I agree with NLUK

[jamesbrown]

it's hardly surprising there's confusion. I've found over a dozen notes already.

I think that's the point. Unless you really know what you're doing, and you can justify the itemized amount, it's hardly surprising that most accountants will recommend the standard allowance, especially given the small sums involved. It's even less surprising to see that advice on a thread with multiple posters that is not tailored to your individual circumstances.