"Mike Armstrong" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 12:14:19 -0000, "Owain"
wrote:

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote
| Currently my employer re-imburses me for out of pocket
| expenses (ie things I've paid for but use for the business)
| like consumables and my work-line phone bill. This is a
| straight reimbursement and I don't gain from it in any way.
| I think this figure shows up on my P11D?
| I think that's fine (and AFAIK it shouldn't show up on your P11D
| unless you use it for non-work purposes).
| How does reimbursing me for an element of my domestic power bill
| differ from this?
| I don't understand why it's different -- talk with an accountant.

My understanding is because the supply is separately metered, you are
dedicating that area of the house *solely* to work purposes and it thus
loses the domestic dwelling exemptions. (It may also become a workplace
under the Health and Safety At Work Act... lots of implications there.)

Use of a room in the house for work is okay provided it can /also/ be
used
domestically, eg sofa bed makes it a 'guest bedroom with desk' rather
than
'office'

Owain


Gosh, this getting more complicated than I had imagined!

This 'office' is basically a partitioned-off section of the garage
which houses a couple of PCs and desks. Although I work from it
during the day, it also serves as a 'study' as my main PC is my own
and I use it for leisure purposes in the evenings. As I frequently
also work in the evenings (and my backup-image creation happens in the
evening), my boss is OK to pick up the tab for a PC which is on 24/7.
The 'office' also contains a tumble dryer (connected to a circuit NOT
on the submeter) so the room also functions as a utility room!

The area is definitely not dedicated solely to work purposes! I guess
it's a matter of interpretation.

The proportion of usage for 'work purposes' will be a consideration
for the tax-man; you have excluded the sole domestic residence
part of the CGT regulations ... ;(
Also, entirely separately, have you examined your household insurance
policy to see whether it covers usage of your 'domestic' building for
business purposes. [ A company I worked for insisted on seeing that
private motor vehicles had 'business use' added to folks' policies before
paying mileage-allowance] ... (You're not using a Social, Domestic
and Pleasure type policy are you?)

If you're using either the telephone or electricity supply for
non-domestic purposes ... have you consulted your providers
to ensure you're paying the appropriate tariff?

Are there H&S compliant fire extinguishers and first-aid
facilities?

Finally, are there any covenants in your title-deeds restricting the
usage of your land (and heridaments)? Mine, incidentally only
permit the land (and heridaments) to be used for the purposes of
'trade' by a Medical Doctor or Dentist -one wouldn't want the tone
of the neighbourhood to go down hill

The provision of a legal and compliant work-space is a not-inconsiderable
cost to an employer ... see rental fees per square foot for your area
and/or
business such as Regis(?) which rent out office space by the hour/day/week
...
It's no surprise that your employer "re-imburses me for out of pocket
expenses".

--

Brian