Tax claim home expenses

[jim_the_chin]

Does anyone know if there?s any mileage in appointing an accountant to work on tax claims on home expenses now we?re working from hone substantially? Ie: does it wash with hmrc and is it worth it?

[diable rouge]

If you've been forced to work from home e.g. due to Covid, you can claim a rebate, not worth getting an accountant in, do it yourself... https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

However, if you've freely decided to go self-employed working from home in the long-term, then getting an accountant to do your tax return would make sense...

[SpringTime]

Ask someone in the House of Commons.

[womanofdulwich]

?6 A week.

[siousxiesue]

I'm sure I saw a pro forma on MoneySavingExpert.com

[No40]

You could call Ray Coman at Coman & Co, a local accountant who does a lot of work with self-employed people (including me). I'm sure he'd tell you if it's worth doing or not. He often has guides on his website as well.

[malumbu]

I've claimed home expenses for years, anyone who ever checks work e-mails at home will be using some of their broadband. Ever since Blackberries (remember them?) were issues there was an implied view that 9-5 in the office was a thing in the past for clerical workers. This needed an office area too as you should separate your home and work life.

I put in a modest estimate, and explain that on the form. I've also claimed for public transport where I cannot cycle to a London meeting but go from home rather than the office. My employer wont cover this as they say it is home to office. I simply cost up the cycle in terms of the mileage rate and take this away from the cost of public transport. It all sounds very finicky but I just use the same wording each year and do this on a point of principle. I've saved ?1000s over the years for my employer by boxing clever on the cost of travel - short cutting the official procedures using budget airlines, advanced train tickets and the like (there was a lag of a number of years before the system caught up. Using my own personal Oyster (pre-contactless) to save on public transport. All sounds a bit petty but there should be a simple petty cash system for short journeys.

Of course I don't go to meetings any more, so will simply do the ?6 a week and to be responsible do this for say 44 weeks of the year.

The self assessment form is pretty straight forward, the only downside is that unlike 15 years ago it is much more difficult to get hold of someone from HMRC. They were extremely helpful in the past.