working from home allowances

JH8

Hi,
I have 2 questions regarding tax deductible working from home allowances which I have not been able to find technical confirmation on so would like some assistance;
1) The working from home simplified expense for the self employed - does the flat rate include rent, or can rent also be claimed as a deductible cost when apportioned as applicable ? I have found contradicting answers from different sources.
2) The working from home flat rate allowance for employees - does the weekly allowance of £6 have to be apportioned for part-time employees ?
Thank you
Jane Hillard MAAT AATQB ATT

Duchess1

Hi. the simplification measures of business use of a home are for sole traders. A monthly flat rate expense can be claimed, instead of deducting the business proportion of household running costs for utilities such as gas and electricity. A separate deduction can be made for fixed costs, such as council tax, insurance and mortgage interest* (sorry don't know if rent counts) and telephone and broadband or internet costs, where an identifiable proportion can be attributed to business use. The amount that can be claimed depends on the number of hours worked per month.

The number of hours taken into account are hours spent in the home by the trader (and an employee of the trader if relevant) which are spent wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. Where more than one person is working in the house at the same time then the hour is counted only once. The flat rate expense can only be claimed if at least 25 hours are worked at home in a month.

25-50 hours - £10
51-100 - £18
101+ - £26

* source ATT business Tax.

manrobertkir

Yes I think everyone should pay if of course it was all official and you applied for a surcharge!