Loaded Question....

[chirpychippy]

I'm building a summer house/workshop at the bottom of my garden

I'm a self employed carpenter and am thinking, can I build this whole structure under the guise of a workshop and put the entire cost through my books, Or worst case 50% as a business expense?

Thank you.

 

[blup]

Its a capital cost so presumably not though running costs are presumably deductible.

 

[old duffer]

you can offset the construction costs and of course the running costs. One note of caution though. The LA could rightly come after you for rates on business premises. You might also need to check the mortgage agreement to see if you are allowed to operate a business from the address. It sounds rather petty but I know someone who did the same and someone submitted a change of use of planning for him and the council never left him alone. Clever trick if you want to upset someone

 

[Mottie]

If you put the whole of a building/room down to business costs, you could be liable to capital gains tax when the house is sold. Better to claim a percentage of it towards the use of.

 

[old duffer]

If you put the whole of a building/room down to business costs, you could be liable to capital gains tax when the house is sold. Better to claim a percentage of it towards the use of.

if it is a registered (booked) asset of Ltd company AND it has appreciated then on selling the business it would be a capital gain. With a single shareholder business then he could sell it to himself at a loss. Guess you have never used Ltd companies for the purpose they were designed lol

 

[opps]

I'm building a summer house/workshop at the bottom of my garden

I'm a self employed carpenter and am thinking, can I build this whole structure under the guise of a workshop and put the entire cost through my books, Or worst case 50% as a business expense?

Thank you.

If 50% of it will be a summer house and 50% workshop space, I cannot see anything wrong with putting 50% of it through your books.

Additionally you will be entitled to put part of your electricity bill through the books.

ExampleYou have 4 rooms in your home, one of which you use only as an office.

Your electricity bill for the year is £400. Assuming all the rooms in your home use equal amounts of electricity, you can claim £100 as allowable expenses (£400 divided by 4).

If you worked only one day a week from home, you could claim £14.29 as allowable expenses (£100 divided by 7).

Expenses if you're self-employed

Business expenses you can claim if you're self-employed

www.gov.uk

 

[Mottie]

Guess you have never used Ltd companies for the purpose they were designed lol

Oh, I’ve used limited companies alright.