Working from home in an office, claiming against expenses.

[mixer25]

Hi, I read bits and bobs about claiming against an office at home etc and how increase in house can mean capital gains etc..

I do not want this to happen, but do want to claim against fuel used etc...

Is it ok to claim the following:Gas/Elec/Water/Council Tax

I have 8 useable rooms in home, so simply divided all by 8 to give a annual amount of fue.

Am I right in doing this and this will give no rights to taxman having capital gains on an increase in home?

Also is council tax allowed to put against this? is interest fromm ortgage allowed?

Cheers

[claymore]

First of all, are you an employee or self employed? If you are self-employed, I'll let someone who knows about these things answer you.

If you are an employee, you might not be able to claim anything at all. If your employer provides an office or other accommodation for you to use but you choose to work from home, then you can't claim any expenses.

Self employed people can claim expenses that they incur "wholly and exclusively" for the business. But for employees the expense has to be incurred "wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties" of the employment.

So, when someone chooses to work from home because it suits their personal circumstances, it can't be said to be necssary - it's personal choice.

You'll need to be a bit more specific about your circumstances before anyone can give you more informative advice.

[mixer25]

Hi Sorry, Self employed... doing self assessment but also PAYE job too.