Council
Tax and Planning Permission
If
you are just talking about you being the worker, and not employing anyone else
at your house, using a desk in the corner of a room, you will not have any problem over Council Tax
as the House would remain rated as a residence and not a business.
If
you have clients coming to the house on a regular basis then, depending upon
their frequency, use of cars etc you may
be business rated. It’s a matter of degree. Will those clients be visiting much
more often than we may expect a normal residence to have visitors? Will there be
deliveries for your business much more often than a residence may expect the
postman to call? If so then you may be tipping the balance in the use of the
house towards a business use.
If
you have your desk in a room that is used by others in the house as part of the
house, then that avoids Business rates. I have an office in a bedroom in which
we store clothes in a wardrobe and it is used by visitors so no Business rates
On
this basis, it is rare for businesses operating from home to be rated.
The
same principles apply in relation to planning permission. Whether you need
planning permission comes down to what is known as a material change in use of your house. Again
a desk in a room used by others is not a material change. If you employ anybody
or use a larger portion of the house then have a word with the Local Council Planning
Department.
You
need to register with the Inland revenue as self employed and also apply to the
national Insurance Office to pay NI contributions. If your income is low enough
you may get an exemption from NI but you need to register first and then apply
for the exemption. You must register with Inland Revenue even if you think that
your income will be below the Tax threshold. The way it works is that you file
an annual Tax Return and they tell you whether you owe any tax rather than you
making that decision. A mistake made by many a self employed person.
You
can register on line and submit your tax returns on line. It’s very easy. I have
a spread sheet to note on income, expenditure, items that could be written off
against Tax e.g use of part of the house for the business, electricity heating
etc. and that spread sheet automatically works out the tax liability. If you are
to set up your business and would like it I can email it to you and explain in
a bit more detail how it works. It made filling out the tax return (on line) so
much easier. Setting up your own business does not have to be that complicated.
Phil
Post last edited on 31/12/2012 09:13:07
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If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
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Topic: How feasible to set up a virtual office?
