working from home?what can you claim back for heating and lighting etc.and are there other things. thanks?

Answer 1

Depends on which country you are paying tax in.

:-)

I am in the UK and can tell you that you are entitled to claim back a certain percentage of not only your "running costs" (ie electricity, heating and OBVIOUSLY all itemised phone calls pertaining as well as a percentage of the standing charge for the line) but also for your mortgage payments (as you are, in effect, paying a mortgage instead of business lease or rental).

BUT- and this is crucial. You MUST ensure that your mortgage agreement or your tenancy agreement PERMITS working from home. Also- household insurance companies will require knowledge of your working arrangements as a lot of policies void themselves when someone is working from home. Public liability MAY need to be taken out to make this adjustment (basically a home cover doesn't cover the public being affected by your actions from the covered home. Hence their shirtiness about the matter.)

I pay £24 a month for buildings and PL as well as contents insurance. This is based on me being self-employed, low risk and classed as "office" (no heavy machinery although they know I use a domestic sewing machine).

I know it isn't what you asked but I wanted to make sure that you know that you can claim a bit more than heat and light and that you are likely to have to PAY a bit more too. Swings in roundabouts though- you ought to be marginally better off with savings compared to extra expenditure though!

Good luck in working from home!

Answer 2

You are entitled to claim back a percentage of your bills, if you can do an exact breakdown of things like telephone calls, you can claim back those and then take a percentage of any other bills that you have. I don't know how to work out a percentage, this is something you would need to discuss with the Inland Revenue or an accounting firm if your going to use one. Any bill that you incur which has a proportion of use in the business is claimable, obviously not things like food or anything that you would pay for if you worked in an office for someone else.

Answer 3

assuming this is your own business and not something u receive a w-2 (if w-2 it is a 2106 and u only get a %) ok so if your own business u r filing a schedule c...as part of this is a use of house form....basically u take the total sq ft of your house and the sq ft used in generating revenue...this creates a percentage...the u take the various expenses (they are considered indirect costs since u will be only taking a portion) and the % of home used is the % of the expense u can claim, now if u have a designated say phone line only for business use....this is a direct cost of the business and u may take the entire amount ....hope this helps

Answer 4

The Vat man used to let us claim 3/5th of the vat on our telephone bills as thats what he said was the percentage of business use. It only saved us about £3 each time, but I think youre allowed a reasonable percentage on things like that.

Answer 5

My company pay my broadband and that's it. But then, I do save about £200 a month (and 2 1/2 hrs a day) by not dragging my fat backside into London each day.

There's no standard for what you can claim back, you'll have to ask your accounts or HR department, or your manager.

Answer 6

Not sure where you are. Here in Australia, it depends on the percentage of floor space in your home that is used for your business.

In all tax matters, either get advice from the source (the IRS) or talk to an accountant.

Answer 7

if you work from home in one room you can clam the cost of that room ie a 5 room house 1 room =20% check with the revenue

Answer 8

however, if you claim it back then you have to have that part of your house registered as a business premis with the council and you will pay business rates on that section..... tread carefully