Small businesses can choose to be taxed on the basis of the cash that passes through their books, rather than undertaking the more complex accounting calculations designed for larger businesses. This is known as the ‘cash basis’, and where a business opts to use it, it will also be possible for that business to use certain simplified arrangements for claiming expenditure in working out taxable profits for income tax purposes. Flat rate expenses can be claimed for business costs for vehicles, working from home, and living at the business premises.
Working from home
Where a business owner runs the business from home they will be able to claim flat rate expenses for business use of the property. This means that it will not be necessary to work out the proportion of personal and business use, for example, how much of their utility bills relate to business use. Instead a monthly deduction will be allowable provided certain criteria are satisfied. The current rates are as follows:
| Number of hours worked per month | Applicable amount |
| 25 or more | £10.00 |
| 51 or more | £18.00 |
| 101 or more | £26.00 |
HMRC’s view is that ‘number of hours worked’ means hours spent wholly and exclusively on ‘core business activities’ in the home with core business activities comprising the provision of goods and/or services, the maintenance of business records and marketing and obtaining new business.
Example
John worked 60 hours from home for a period of 10 months, and worked 110 hours during two particular months. He can claim the following amount against his income for tax purposes:
10 months x £18.00 = £180.00
2 months x £26.00 = £52.00
Total amount claimed = £232.00
Living at the Business Premises
Some businesses use their business premises as their home, for example, hotels and guesthouses. Where a premise is used for both business and private use, the business owner may, instead of making the standard deduction outlined above, make a deduction for the non-business use. The allowable deduction will therefore be the amount of the expenses incurred, less the non-business use amount. The non-business use amount is the sum of the applicable amounts (see below) for each month, or part of a month, falling within the period in question (usually the tax year). The applicable amounts are as follows:
| Number of relevant occupants | Applicable amount |
| 1 | £350 |
| 2 | £500 |
| 3 or more | £650 |
A relevant occupant is someone who occupies the premises as a home, or someone who stays at the premises otherwise than in the course of the trade.
Example
Sandy runs a guesthouse and also lives there all year round with her husband. Her overall business expenses are £10,000. She can claim a flat rate deduction for private use as follows:
12 months x £500 per month = £6,000
Expenses claimed against income £10,000 – £6,000 = £4,000
Where a person claims a flat rate deduction, they are still able to claim a separate deduction for fixed costs such as council tax, insurance and mortgage interest.
Expenses Checker
You can choose which basis to use depending on which method produces the maximum tax savings. HMRC provide a simplified expenses checker, which can be used to compare what you can claim using simplified expenses with what you can claim by working out the actual costs. The checker can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/simplified-expenses-checker.
Claims
Anyone wishing to utilise the simplified expenses regime should ensure that they keep records of business miles for vehicles, the number of hours worked at home, and details of people living at the business premises over the year. At the end of the year, work out how much can be claimed and include these amounts of your self-assessment tax return.
