Working from Home – Simplified Expenses If You’re Self-Employed
The Office for National Statistics estimated that as of January 2017, 4.8 million people (15.1% of the workforce) were self-employed, and many of those work from home, at least to some extent.
In accordance with this, the government has issued guidelines on the amount those who are self-employed can claim in respect of business use of their homes. These simplified expenses can be claimed by any self-employed person who works 25 or more hours a month from home.
The allowances are shown below:
Hours of business | Flat rate per month |
25 to 50 | £10 |
51-100 | £18 |
101 or more | £26 |
The simplified flat rate expenses avoid the hassle of having to work out the proportion of business and personal use of the home. It should however be noted that this flat rate does not include telephone or internet expenses, for which the business proportion of the bill should be claimed.
In cases where the amount of hours spent working from home varies month-to-month, the flat rate allowable for each individual month should be added together to give a total for the year, rather than calculating a monthly average of hours.
It is also worth noting that guidelines state homeworkers expenses exceeding £4 per week (£18 per month) will need to supported by sufficient evidence.
If you are unsure how this affects you, please contact our tax department who will be happy to help.
Please note: This article is a commentary on general principles and should not be interpreted as advice for your specific situation.
