Over the last six months, more people have been forced to work from home. This could well become the new norm as some businesses look to downsize realising that their employees can do the same job from home.
It might feel wrong to claim for something that you might not use exclusively for work, but in some instances, you are able to claim the expenses back. Below are five things you can claim for when working from home.
1. Internet
If you’re working from home, then chances are you are going to be using the internet. If that is over the course of an eight-hour working day, and depending on whether you are uploading or downloading important work-related documents, you are going to put a big strain on your internet usage.
2. Home office
Whether you’re working from the dining room table or you have a functional home office your laptop, desktop computer and printer are all going to be integral to you doing your job. If you have paid money for these then you will be able to claim a portion of them back. One thing to point out is that you can even claim for these items before you register as self-employed.
3. Electricity
Working from home means that on occasion you might have to work late into the evening and that means using the lights. It is going to be hard to break down exactly how much of the electricity can be attributed to the time spent working but as a rough guide try and work out how much of your time is spent doing business each day and how often you benefit from the electricity.
4. Phone
Your phone bill will be another important aspect of your working life especially if you are going to be communicating with clients or team calls. The easiest way is to expense your work calls by having a separate work phone or even mobile. However, if that is not worth the hassle and you want to stick with your home phone then you are going to have to log all the calls that are of a business nature to work out what you are entitled to claim back.
5. Car
Lastly, there is the car, if you must travel for your business for any reason then you should be able to claim back the travel expenses which include the fuel you use. Most companies will have a scheme where you can claim a percentage of your mileage back for a certain pence per mile.
If you have recently started working from home and are unsure of what your rights are or what you can claim back, then either get more info from HMRC or speak to an accountant. At The Stan Lee we have a dedicated team of experienced professionals who can tell you exactly what you can claim when working from home. You can get in touch with us here.
