Sure Signal - chargeable?

[TheFaQQer]

So in my mind you are buying something through the company that requires your personal home broadband to supply a service to something you only use in your home. I know what I would be doing

But this isn't a handset or service plan so not sure how the rule for them can apply.

If you're claiming partial home use, then that includes partial broadband use as well.

My argument is that it is a company asset with incidental personal use. If you face an investigation and HMRC argue that it isn't, then you pay the £100 back to the company.

I'm pretty risk averse, but I don't see any issue with claiming this, as long as you have a decent enough argument in case of an investigation.

[Ticktock]

So in my mind you are buying something through the company that requires your personal home broadband to supply a service to something you only use in your home. I know what I would be doing

But this isn't a handset or service plan so not sure how the rule for them can apply.

True, but then buying a new PC (desktop) would require my personal home broadband to supply a service to something I only use in my home. I get where you're coming from, but I think the link of the broadband tipping the scales one way or the other is a bit tenuous. i think this is just another new piece of tech not fully defined yet. I doubt it would raise an issue - it's a bit of IT tech to help me do business, if it did get called out I think it would be accepted as a geniune mistake, and wouldn't break the bank to rectify.

In any case, I'll be playing it safe and paying for it personally. I really don't see the point of being a bit dodgy (beyond share split and salary/divi split), even if I could find a way to justify what I'm doing.

[northernladuk]

No, the broadband account is set up personally.
TBH, I think for the small amount this is going to cost (after the discounts) I may as well play it safe and pay personally. The only reason I even wondered about it is because of the rules on handsets and service plans, where the "Wholly and exclusively" rules don't apply.

And as for racking up charges in case data defaults to this instead of wireless... Yep, I'll keep an eye on it, but as they're giving me 4GB data per month it's not such an issue.

For those interested, I was going to move to an EE sim-only at £12.50 net. 1000 mins and texts, 750MB 4G.
Vodafone are giving me unlimited mins, texts and 4GB 4G, free Spotify sub for £15.50 gross - so 50p difference. As I said I was still going to move due to coverage they've also discounted a Sure Signal box. As my wife is on Vodafone also it seems better to stick, as she will now get a better signal too, I can't be bothered faffing about waiting for a PAC, and I used to be with Orange and have a bad taste in my mouth from them still.

Thanks for the advice on the Sure Signal though, everyone!

So in my mind you are buying something through the company that requires your personal home broadband to supply a service to something you only use in your home. I know what I would be doing

But this isn't a handset or service plan so not sure how the rule for them can apply.

[Ticktock]

Do you claim your broadband at home?

No, the broadband account is set up personally.
TBH, I think for the small amount this is going to cost (after the discounts) I may as well play it safe and pay personally. The only reason I even wondered about it is because of the rules on handsets and service plans, where the "Wholly and exclusively" rules don't apply.

And as for racking up charges in case data defaults to this instead of wireless... Yep, I'll keep an eye on it, but as they're giving me 4GB data per month it's not such an issue.

For those interested, I was going to move to an EE sim-only at £12.50 net. 1000 mins and texts, 750MB 4G.
Vodafone are giving me unlimited mins, texts and 4GB 4G, free Spotify sub for £15.50 gross - so 50p difference. As I said I was still going to move due to coverage they've also discounted a Sure Signal box. As my wife is on Vodafone also it seems better to stick, as she will now get a better signal too, I can't be bothered faffing about waiting for a PAC, and I used to be with Orange and have a bad taste in my mouth from them still.

Thanks for the advice on the Sure Signal though, everyone!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I'd say that as long as it's in YourCo's name and paid for by YourCo, then the normal wholly and exclusively rule applies. As with other equipment/services supplied to an employee to use at home for business use, as long as personal use is not significant, then I'd claim it.

In other words, as long as you're getting it for genuine business purposes then any personal use would be insignificant IMO. I don't think it would take much convincing if it was queried. It's the same as if YourCo paid for its own broadband line in your home or supplied you with a laptop.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/eim21613.htm

Take note that this doesn't apply if the contract is in your name and you are reimbursed.

[northernladuk]

Do you claim your broadband at home?

[Pondlife]

I know but...

You might need to be a bit careful with those things. There was an issue recently where some woman racked up huuuuge data charges from her provider as it was preferring to connect via the signal booster box rather than her wifi router. A couple of OS updates/upgrades combined with the usual app traffic blew through her allowance.

[deckster]

Speak to your accountant.... Except I'm in the middle of transferring from one to another, don't trust the old one and not signed up with the new one yet. And cannot find anything in search either.

Finally got around to switching my mobile across to a business account, and Vodafone have (along with a raft of discounts) offered me a Sure Signal box at a discount as their signal is so crappy here. Given that the mobile will be on a business account billable to MyCo, and the handset will be bought via MyCo, the question is, can I claim for the Sure Signal device? Any ideas?

If in doubt I'll just pay for it myself, for the small amount I'd save!

Wholly.
Necessarily.
Exclusively.

If you do a significant amount of work from home that requires you to be contactable by mobile then I'd say you have a good argument that any personal benefit is purely incidental, and therefore you're justified in putting it through the company.

If you're all day on customer site and don't do out-of-hours support from home then you'd have difficulty in convincing Hector the you pass any of the above tests and therefore it would be a benefit in kind.

And as you say...for the the small net saving it might not be worth the effort

[TheFaQQer]

Buy it through the company.

How much are we talking here??

If you use your company mobile phone from home, then I would have no qualms about claiming it. If there is a likely scenario where you will work from home, or are on call, then it's even more of an excuse to buy it as a business expense.

[northernladuk]

For the price of it I wouldn't. The device is servicing your home of which only a tiny percentage is considered office i.e. the £4 a week. If you claim a lot more then it might be justifiable but in general it isn't. Your phone has is for business use but an amount of personal use is allowable. I don't think this exception would be transferable and if it was you could argue being in your home personal use would far outstrip business use.

End of the day it's about risk though. If you fancy it and willing to argue it then stick it through. If you want to play to the letter of the law I would say this wouldn't fly.

Your call....

[captainham]

Do you work from home? If so, I'd say yes. If not, I'd say no.

EDIT: But even if you're at home between work and looking for a new contract, you could argue you need it. Yeah screw it, I would charge it.

[Ticktock]

Speak to your accountant.... Except I'm in the middle of transferring from one to another, don't trust the old one and not signed up with the new one yet. And cannot find anything in search either.

Finally got around to switching my mobile across to a business account, and Vodafone have (along with a raft of discounts) offered me a Sure Signal box at a discount as their signal is so crappy here. Given that the mobile will be on a business account billable to MyCo, and the handset will be bought via MyCo, the question is, can I claim for the Sure Signal device? Any ideas?

If in doubt I'll just pay for it myself, for the small amount I'd save!