self employed, home allowance and mileage
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:02 pm
Hi, am looking for some clarification and will try to be brief!
I am a sole trader, working part-time from home travelling to clients as and when required. Two main questions:
1. Home allowance: i can claim £3 per week - do i need to pro-rate this as i am p/t (approx 3 days a week)?
2. Car mileage: I understand there are two options (which once i adopt one i have to stay with it until i change my car?). Option 1: claim capital allowances (pro-rated for business use) and business use element of all related expenses. OR option 2: use IR mileage rates (i am below VAT threshold) for business mileage.
My query is that i currently own a car (9 years old) but husband is starting a new job (PAYE) with a company car that i will be able to use, so i am looking into which car option would be most tax efficient for me.
Firstly - could i claim the IR approved mileage rates on my husbands company car or can i only claim my business use petrol expenses?
secondly - if i continued to use my own car and decided to adopt the claim CA's, all business expenses route etc - what value do i use for the intial CA claim (likely to be low given vehicle age)? Havn't looked at any numbers for the two options yet, just wanted to clarify what options could be available to me.
many thanks
I am a sole trader, working part-time from home travelling to clients as and when required. Two main questions:
1. Home allowance: i can claim £3 per week - do i need to pro-rate this as i am p/t (approx 3 days a week)?
2. Car mileage: I understand there are two options (which once i adopt one i have to stay with it until i change my car?). Option 1: claim capital allowances (pro-rated for business use) and business use element of all related expenses. OR option 2: use IR mileage rates (i am below VAT threshold) for business mileage.
My query is that i currently own a car (9 years old) but husband is starting a new job (PAYE) with a company car that i will be able to use, so i am looking into which car option would be most tax efficient for me.
Firstly - could i claim the IR approved mileage rates on my husbands company car or can i only claim my business use petrol expenses?
secondly - if i continued to use my own car and decided to adopt the claim CA's, all business expenses route etc - what value do i use for the intial CA claim (likely to be low given vehicle age)? Havn't looked at any numbers for the two options yet, just wanted to clarify what options could be available to me.
many thanks