I thought simplified expenses were supposed to make things easier for the self-employed.
So why are HMRC making certain aspects so confusing?
I refer specifically to the flat rate expenses you can claim (based on hours of business use per month) for working from home.
Does this include your landline and internet costs or can they be claimed separately?
Well, if you read the advice on the gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/simpler-income-tax-s ... -from-home), it seems quite clear:
'The flat rate doesn’t include telephone or internet expenses. You can claim the business proportion of these bills by working out the actual costs.'
However, according to the two HMRC technical advisors I've spoken to about this (the first several months back and the second last week), that's simply not correct. The flat rate DOES include home phone and internet, they both assured me (and the advice on the website is wrong). The only time a home worker could claim internet and phone costs on top of the home working flat rate would be if they had a separate business phone line/internet account. I'm sure that's not the case in most instances.
Has anyone else had experience of this?
And what about mobile phone costs? My understanding is that you CAN claim your business proportion of this on top of simplified expenses. It makes sense, I suppose, because a mobile can be used anywhere (not just at home). But since when did tax rules make sense?
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