Posted March 16, 2020

What expenses can you claim if you work from home?

HMRC have a flat rate, simplified expenses calculator for working out your use of home as office if you’re self-employed.

If you work less than 5 hours a week you cannot claim anything.

5 to 10 hours = £120 per year
10 to 25 hours = £216 per year
25+ hours = £312 per year

Alternatively you can use a percentage of your household bills.

These include mortgage interest (but not the capital portion), rent, council tax, gas, electric, insurance and a metered water supply.

Any sensible method for apportioning bills will be accepted, but we would recommend determining how many rooms are in your house and how many are used as an office. For example, if you have 6 rooms and use 1 as the office then this figure would be one sixth.

Next, you need to work out how many hours per week you work from home. A 35-hour week is normal, so if you work 17 and a half hours in a week we would say that you’re working in the office half the time.

In this example your total bills divided by your 6 rooms and then apportioned by 50% for working there half the time, would form a total amount of your bills that you could claim.

If you feel that you’re using a larger proportion of your household bills on your business, then as long as you can justify why this is, you can use another method to apportion these expenses.

If you need any more advice, or have any specific questions, get in touch.