Self employed working from home question

Fuzzballs

Hi i have an opportunity to become self employed as a sole trader. I would be working from an office in my house, and i may also use my private car for some business work. Is there a set percentage of the utility bills, rent, and motor costs that i can offset against my profits every year? Or is it up to you to make up the percentage yourself? Also what about fixed assets purchased for the business like computer, fax, and office furniture? I have checked the Revenue site but i cant find a definitive answer. Thanks

vicwatson

It's probably designed to be vague ! I'd be interested in an answer to this also.

kennyb3

See IT48 on revenue site. If you read it you ll find the answers to both your questions plus answers to lots of other questions your likely to have.

Fuzzballs

kennyb3 wrote: »

See IT48 on revenue site. If you read it you ll find the answers to both your questions plus answers to lots of other questions your likely to have.

Hi Kenny. Yes ive already downloaded the it48. So calculation on percentage of utility bills, motor etc used for business, 'revenue expenditure' as they call it seems to be self assessed to. The wear and tear aspect of the motor seems to be 12.5% of the cost of the vehicle per year.

kennyb3

Hi fuzzball,

On the home expenses - you need to justify these if they are queried. So insurance and light & heat would normally be taken on a % of square foot basis for example.

On motor - this is bit more complicated and why you need professional advice.

See the other thread on this forum re this.

Furniture etc. -you cant just start claiming for furniture you bought 5 years ago. It needs to be wrote down for the interim period. also then is it really for the business?

Also to claim motor expenses you'd need to keep a log of mileage and also keep receipts. One way to do it would be to get total mileage for a year, then business mileage. Total up motor ins, tax and petrol/diesel receipts and again apply a % basis.

The whole mileage and subsistence thing is often debated - keep receipts is my advice - dont claim a flat rate if you cant justify it when revenue query it.

Fuzzballs

kennyb3 wrote: »

Hi fuzzball,

On the home expenses - you need to justify these if they are queried. So insurance and light & heat would normally be taken on a % of square foot basis for example.

On motor - this is bit more complicated and why you need professional advice.

See the other thread on this forum re this.

Furniture etc. -you cant just start claiming for furniture you bought 5 years ago. It needs to be wrote down for the interim period. also then is it really for the business?

Also to claim motor expenses you'd need to keep a log of mileage and also keep receipts. One way to do it would be to get total mileage for a year, then business mileage. Total up motor ins, tax and petrol/diesel receipts and again apply a % basis.

The whole mileage and subsistence thing is often debated - keep receipts is my advice - dont claim a flat rate if you cant justify it when revenue query it.

Hi Kenny.

Thanks for the advice. Yes i understand about the fixed assets and the mileage, i wont take the pee with them.I will just keep a track of the mileage on a daily or weekly basis so it does not get out of control and to hard to trace back. At the moment im just factoring in 25% for all other motoring and utility bills on my business plan.