I run an internet business as well as working full time. Can i claim for an office and broadband and phone etc
I am talking about the costs that my accountant should be putting down as cost involved in running the business. Anyone that can shed some light on this or point me to a laymans website would be well received.
Small Business - 4 Answers
People Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
Yes, you can claim office space, phone, etc.... But you know what I'm going to do soon? I'm just going to go to my local IRS office and ask them about my own situation where I make money using my computer (trading stocks). That way, I'll know from the source exactly what is legal and what is not. And I will try to get it in writing too, with an IRS letterhead on the paper. The IRS is not against people getting all of the deductions that they are legally entitled to have, so don't be afraid to just ask them, who know best.
Answer 2 :
If your running a business out of your home. Your phone, cell phone, Internet supplies needed such as paper, pens, ink etc. Should go in an itemized list. You can also charge your company rent if you own your own place. No here is the getter if you use your cell phone or home phone for another primary business you can not claim it in both places for instance your work for a separate company and you claim your cell phone on your personal taxes, you can not claim it on your business taxes. If you have any more questions my email is open.
Answer 3 :
Yes - but technically you're supposed to apportion use. So, for example, if 80% of your internet use is for your business and 20% for personal use, you can claim the 80% as a business cost. Same goes for phone usage. Claiming costs for using a room of your house as an office is fraught with difficuties. You can do it - but beware that it opens a whole can of worms, for example, your house insurance my be invalidated, it can give rise to a capital gain when you sell your house etc. This is a very complex area - you should take the advice of your accountant.
Answer 4 :
well, the costs of telephone and internet can be apportioned so that you split out the business use element of it using a certain % which you feel is correct for the use of it, but with telephone you can only do this on the calls, not the line rental as the line rental is classed as private if you only have one phone. (basically they argue that this has to be paid whether or not is is private or business use). you can also do the same with a mobile phone too. If however you have a seperate business line put in, then you can claim the whole cost including the line rental. with regards to an office, this expense is called Use of Home as Office, if you have one room set aside, there are 2 ways of calculating this. first way - actual cost of you elec and gas bills, council tax, house insurance etc.. and then divide this total cost by the number of main rooms, ie lounge, kitchen, no of bedrooms and attribute this figure to the cost of the office. second way - this way is much easier, you can claim upto £6 a week as a standard cost of using the 1 room as an office without the Inland Revenue questioning it. obviously if you take holidays for may have to reduce the cost for the weeks away so if you have say 4 weeks off, then you claim £6 for 48 weeks and not the full 52, but hey, whos gonna know you are away. the second way is by far the easiest and is usually more than the actual cost, depending on the size of you house. hope this helps
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