Help - Am I allowed to work from home?

[happyhippy]

Now here's one, because I'm trying to set up a charity (not retail), but have no premises. Any ideas on whether I could have the registered address at my place or not? The Charity Commission is a bit vague about it, but I do live in a council property, so do I need to write to the council for possible permission?

[42fta]

Did I dream this, or if you're working from home, can you claim some money back on your mortgage??

It might depend on what your business is, when I used to childmind it was allowable against personal tax.

The calculation was :

A= percentage of your home used for the business. eg, 1 room used as office in a 2up-2down would be 25%.

B = percentage of a full working week that the home is used for the business. thats active use like planning, doing and phoning, not the fact that you might store stuff there all the time eg, if you spend 3 days in the home office, 1 day out meeting clients and 1 day doing housework its 60%

C = mortgage interest not total mortgage repayments.

 

Amount claimable against taxation is C x (A/100) x (B/100)

 

If in doubt, phone the tax office, the above is the calculation they gave me. I don't know if it is scaleable for all forms of self-employment or if it covers employees who work from home.

[KenH]

It might depend on what your business is, when I used to childmind it was allowable against personal tax.

The calculation was :

A= percentage of your home used for the business. eg, 1 room used as office in a 2up-2down would be 25%.

B = percentage of a full working week that the home is used for the business. thats active use like planning, doing and phoning, not the fact that you might store stuff there all the time eg, if you spend 3 days in the home office, 1 day out meeting clients and 1 day doing housework its 60%

C = mortgage interest not total mortgage repayments.

 

Amount claimable against taxation is C x (A/100) x (B/100)

 

If in doubt, phone the tax office, the above is the calculation they gave me. I don't know if it is scaleable for all forms of self-employment or if it covers employees who work from home.

 

If you claim that your house is used partly as a residence then you have to be careful when you come to sell it. If, for example, you claim that 50% of your house is used entirely for your business then you might reasonably get the company to pay 50% of all your bills. When you come to sell your house you would normally be exempted from capital gains tax, but not is you have claimed that part of it is a business premises. In this case you might end up paying tax on that part which was a business and which you had previously enjoyed claiming back tax for. My advice would be to do things in moderation, don't make yourself stand out, and fill in your own tax returns.

[willman]

in my experience working with solicitors most houses have a covenant in the deeds restricting running businesse from home.

the fact that the majority of people ignore it doesn't make it lawful or right.

the only legal way to do it is to have a registered head office or mailing address.

[davebott]

My advice would be to get a solicitor and accountant to look at things before you start. DO NOT start the business ilegally and then some time down the road try to make things legal. It will prove to be a VERY expensive mistake.

Speaking from experience of running a business at home in that manner and the million and one problems it brought !!

Oh by the way it was an antiques & collectables business so no smells or noises. Just plenty of old tat !!