Business Rates & home office expenses

[Silvergirl]

Is a business registered and operaring from the private residence of one of the directors subject to business rates?

Are there any negative implications or is there a better way of claiming gas and esb expenses than changing the account name to the company name, and the director making a proportinate payment to the company account for personal usage?

Is there any set way to calculate the above, is it based on sq ft utilised by the business etc?

During the day up until 5pm the premises is used solely for the business, 3 directors working from there and running machinery, computers, lighting, heating etc.

Premises includes office space but also workshop (garage) etc if this has any relevance?

Thanks

 

[elgransenor]

Generally your accountant needs to agree an apportionment between business and private use re all your expenses with Revenue.
I had,for years,a certain proportion of my telephone expenses at home attributed to my business.
But your accountant should be able to advise you and this situation is not at all unusual.

 

[living:room]

When working from home you can claim a proportion of common expenses - ESB, gas, telephone, insurances - as allowable expenses. How you calculate this should be clearly set out eg. 1 room used in 5 room property = claim 1/5 of expenses. I think it is possible to claim on a time basis as well - best to have a chat with the Revenue, they're generally very helpful.

You should be aware that if you sell your house, then you may become liable to pay Capital Gains tax on that element of your home on which you were claiming the business expenses. When you've calculated the proportion of the expenses you want to claim, it would be worth doing a cross check on what your Capital Gains tax liability would be, to see if claiming expenses is a short term gain leading to a long term loss.

 

[Silvergirl]

Thanks for the replies. Anyone know what the story with business rates is? What exactly are these and would it be from Revenue you'd find out if you'd be liable? I thought they billed by the local co. council? Again would it be a proportinate charge per sq ft for portion used for business purposes or the entire house and work shop?

Thanks