Design Bit blog by Anthony Brewitt - a web designer, blog designer, Wordpress designer and marketing philosopher. Designbit showcases Anthony’s talents and shares his web design know-how.

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Web Designer Tip: Saving Money with UK Tax Reliefs

September 1st, 2010, Category: Freelance Web Designer Tip Web Designer Tips

If you’re based in the UK and self-employed you can save money by getting tax relief for your business expenses. If you pay for a service for business and private use (like your phone bill), the bill can be split so you get tax relief for the part that’s just for your business.

Your business expenses might include:

Splitting the cost

If you work from home you are probably entitled to claim tax reliefs on bills such as electricity; phone, broadband etc. Let’s say you have a 7 room house including your office, you could get tax relief on 1/7 of your electricity bill.

Tax is a difficult area best solved by a one on one appointment with a tax advisor – I’m not getting my fingerprints on that train wreck! as a first step – check out HMRC self employed tax reliefs.

  • http://www.chimera-studios.co.uk/ Chimera Studios web design

    Really good tips, thanks!

  • http://www.brillcreative.co.uk brill – bristol web design

    Good little tips here. You can even claim on the cost of cycling to your web design job!

  • http://www.wayfresh.co.uk Web Design Newcastle

    I never knew about this, i knew you could claim the odd thing but havent looked into it in depth, thanks will read a bit more!

  • http://www.barcelonatraveladvisor.com Rozanne Cutsinger

    Great post with several interesting recommendations! Can’t say I totally agree with all you have said here, but there are a good amount of important suggestions you have emphasized that can be very useful on travel tips and related topics. Please continue offering more ideas on this topic and associated topics, as there are quite a few folks who are attempting to get to know the positives and negatives.

  • http://www.buzz-webdesign.co.uk Web Design Hull

    Some good tips, thanks… I really must sort out claiming for some of these things and stop being lazy!

  • http://www.webbgear.co.uk David Webb

    Thanks for the post, perhaps a cheap accountant is also a useful option, the money the accountant saves you can probably pay for having on.

    David.

  • http://www.polarisdesign.co.uk Katie McMillan

    Great post, but people should bear in mind, that it’s not a case of “claiming” for these perks. You must fill out a tax return and you may be due the taxman money! You don’t get a discount from your bills, you’re just not liable to pay the VAT. For example, 7 rooms in house, 1/7 of phone bill, electric bill are exempt from 20% VAT. Same applies to travel costs. People beware, you don’t get anything for nothing and the taxman doesn’t give away freebies (unless of course you’re a city banker!)