Water Expenses

[Russcooper]

Hi. So I produce my own pure water I don’t have a meter and pay yearly At this present time I use about 1500 lt a week So how do I off set that to the tax man
What I do at the minute is put it down as though I am buying it I have no idea I have been down in book as £30 a month

 

[Part Timer]

You can't claim anything as an expense without a receipt, you'll need to get a seperate meter.

 

[Mattymarske]

Buy something like this for the tap you use to produce your water and record your monthly usage that way. I do it monthly, work out the monetary value from unit value on water bill and transfer from business account to the account your water bill comes out if so you've got a paper trail for accountant.

 

[Iron Giant]

I'd have thought it only possible if your house is on a water meter and you then have a separate meter so you can clearly define your usage as @Part Timer said you need a receipt which you won't have as you are been billed by the water company simply as a domestic customer, not a business, lets hope you ain't submitted a tax return yet with a years worth of alleged water usage which you can't offset

 

[spruce]

I'd have thought it only possible if your house is on a water meter and you then have a separate meter so you can clearly define your usage as @Part Timer said you need a receipt which you won't have as you are been billed by the water company simply as a domestic customer, not a business, lets hope you ain't submitted a tax return yet with a years worth of alleged water usage which you can't offset

I asked this very question at the tax office. I was told that you can't claim anything back from tax as it's water used in the house.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Just like rain water but you can put through RO and resin as a business expense. ?

 

[ched999uk]

I asked this very question at the tax office. I was told that you can't claim anything back from tax as it's water used in the house.

Interesting.
We used to run holiday apartments and live on site, mixed use property part commercial rates part domestic. Our accountant advised that we claim a % of utilities as business expenses. So we claimed about 70% of our utilities as business expenses.
Before I started window cleaning I asked our accountant what to do about water bills. He said you have the current and past bills showing your typical usage so once you start your bills will rise and that extra consumption (and sewerage charges) can be put through as business expenses.
I wonder if it's that I have bills to prove our 'typical' use before window cleaning so therefore have a reference?

 

[Part Timer]

I wonder if it's that I have bills to prove our 'typical' use before window cleaning so therefore have a reference?

You have a type of proof so if investigated you can submit it. However if they don't accept it they might decide to not allow it or investigate further. I would, personally, just get a separate bill as that takes any potential problems away.

 

[Pjj]

I'd have thought it only possible if your house is on a water meter and you then have a separate meter so you can clearly define your usage as @Part Timer said you need a receipt which you won't have as you are been billed by the water company simply as a domestic customer, not a business, lets hope you ain't submitted a tax return yet with a years worth of alleged water usage which you can't offset

It’s easy to work out what you have used either by tank volume or a separate meter then just charge the business the price per sm if you are still on water rates then charge a % of the total amount for work that’s what I used to do and it was never questioned, HMRC arnt going to ask to see your water bills unless they do an inspection ,in the grand scheme of things tge water expenses is not that larger bill.

 

[Pjj]

Interesting.
We used to run holiday apartments and live on site, mixed use property part commercial rates part domestic. Our accountant advised that we claim a % of utilities as business expenses. So we claimed about 70% of our utilities as business expenses.
Before I started window cleaning I asked our accountant what to do about water bills. He said you have the current and past bills showing your typical usage so once you start your bills will rise and that extra consumption (and sewerage charges) can be put through as business expenses.
I wonder if it's that I have bills to prove our 'typical' use before window cleaning so therefore have a reference?

This is pretty much what my accountant told me years ago , I now have separate meters so it’s not an issue but it’s easy enough to work out what you use for work and deduct that from the main bill you don’t have to have separate bills but if you do it makes it easier .

 

[spruce]

Interesting.
We used to run holiday apartments and live on site, mixed use property part commercial rates part domestic. Our accountant advised that we claim a % of utilities as business expenses. So we claimed about 70% of our utilities as business expenses.
Before I started window cleaning I asked our accountant what to do about water bills. He said you have the current and past bills showing your typical usage so once you start your bills will rise and that extra consumption (and sewerage charges) can be put through as business expenses.
I wonder if it's that I have bills to prove our 'typical' use before window cleaning so therefore have a reference?

We aren't on a water meter. The tax man said that it was a monthly household expense no matter how much water you use.
I made a personal appointment with the tax man before I started window cleaning to clarify certain points.
This was one of the questions I asked.

One of the big points of discussion was around sharing or apportioning costs between private and business use.
The tax man calls it self assessment and leaves it to us to decide what % to apply. We specifically focused on my van. He told me to decide what % of the vans running costs were private use and what was business use.
Stopping work at lunch time and driving to the local chippy or McDonalds for lunch/coffee would be considered private mileage, but driving to and from work from home would be counted as business mileage, as home is my business address. However, if I had a unit I worked from, driving home from that unit in the van would be private mileage.

My mobile phone is also used for personal use so my % of business use to claim for is for me to assess and for them to see as reasonable if they do an investigation.

With regard to your holiday apartments, your accountant is totally correct. But it's up you to decide what % to apply between domestic and commercial use. If you decided to claim 90% commercial then you have to justify that. What you claim has to look reasonable on paper.
This is how the tax man works.

For those on a water meter, they have to add a second meter to know how much their business water costs are as @Pjj says.

 

[Pjj]

We aren't on a water meter. The tax man said that it was a monthly household expense no matter how much water you use.
I made a personal appointment with the tax man before I started window cleaning to clarify certain points.
This was one of the questions I asked.

One of the big points of discussion was around sharing or apportioning costs between private and business use.
The tax man calls it self assessment and leaves it to us to decide what % to apply. We specifically focused on my van. He told me to decide what % of the vans running costs were private use and what was business use.
Stopping work at lunch time and driving to the local chippy or McDonalds for lunch/coffee would be considered private mileage, but driving to and from work from home would be counted as business mileage, as home is my business address. However, if I had a unit I worked from, driving home from that unit in the van would be private mileage.

My mobile phone is also used for personal use so my % of business use to claim for is for me to assess and for them to see as reasonable if they do an investigation.

With regard to your holiday apartments, your accountant is totally correct. But it's up you to decide what % to apply between domestic and commercial use. If you decided to claim 90% commercial then you have to justify that. What you claim has to look reasonable on paper.
This is how the tax man works.

For those on a water meter, they have to add a second meter to know how much their business water costs are as @Pjj says.

Some things area grey area , I claim all van expenses as expenses as the vans are only used for work , as for getting lunch whilst working , it would be diff to determine how much fuel is used for that each week but generally we are driving from one job to the next when we go past the lunch venue so I wouldn’t worry about it ?????

 

[Part Timer]

Some things area grey area , I claim all van expenses as expenses as the vans are only used for work , as for getting lunch whilst working , it would be diff to determine how much fuel is used for that each week but generally we are driving from one job to the next when we go past the lunch venue so I wouldn’t worry about it ?????

We do the same but have been warned by our Accountant to insure it for business use only. If you have it for social and domestic as well they'll assume it's being used outside of work and will want their pound of flesh.