What expenses can I claim?

maisiemog

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About to submit my first tax return.

Am I right in thinking cashback doesn't count as income? Also as I only sell our old stuff that doesn't count either? Never brought anything just to resell.

Can I claim petrol for travel to mystery shops etc?

And even though my blog only made its first money back this tax year can I put the hosting costs as an expense?

My earnings from this and my job put me a whole £90 into the tax paying bracket. Probably won't manage £90 worth of expenses though.
 

Jon

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About to submit my first tax return.

Am I right in thinking cashback doesn't count as income? Also as I only sell our old stuff that doesn't count either? Never brought anything just to resell.

Can I claim petrol for travel to mystery shops etc?

And even though my blog only made its first money back this tax year can I put the hosting costs as an expense?

My earnings from this and my job put me a whole £90 into the tax paying bracket. Probably won't manage £90 worth of expenses though.
@katykicker is the queen of knowing what you can expense but I would have thought yes to Petrol / hosting costs etc
 

katykicker

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@katykicker is the queen of knowing what you can expense but I would have thought yes to Petrol / hosting costs etc


Ok this is a copy and paste job! But here are some other ideas:

Ok hold on let me try and make a quick list of things I claimed for:

Percentage of bills (Broadband etc - not solely for work so only a % for me)
Mobile phone for work + bills for that
Camera + accessories (Used for work)
Any equipment solely for work
Backdrops
Purchases from Amazon for work
Post office spending for competition wins etc
Paypal expenses
Any social media scheduling software
Any purchases for work, things like photoshop, lightroom etc
Conference tickets
Travel for work + hotels etc
Mileage for work events (I didn't claim this this year but others can of course if applicable)
Social media adverts I paid for
Any fees from affiliate networks (one charges me 2% of my earnings)
Domain hosting + fees for that type of thing
Any paid plugins for my website / paid themes

I'm sure there is more but this is the stuff that comes to mind.

The areas I hadn't really bothered with were things like train tickets, post office, Amazon orders. For me these went into the 4 figures and I was shocked :D

I had also missed off a couple of social media scheduling fees and hadn't declared all of my advertising expenses, I'd also forgotten a new domain (just realised I forgot two but I'm not going to try and edit it now!)

Hope this is helpful!

There are also things like simplified expenses to look into, which varies based on the hours you work per month. Accounts fees etc.

I'm sure there is lots more, depending on what you do specifically for your job :) x

Cashback is only income if it’s against items you bought that you’re expensing. Like a tablet or upgrading broadband etc.

Yes to hosting
Yes to petrol for jobs

Ps - not an accountant so it’s just based on my own experiences!
 

fraserbooks

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Selling your own things is not taxable. I think if you make more than about £1000 a year they might question it though. If you do buy things to sell you can obviously use stock purchases as an expense. Also stationary, printer cartridges etc. If you work from home you can also claim part of your electricity bill. I think once you get into the big league it is worth registering for VAT but I am not an accountant. I found when I was selling books it was worth keeping a simple account book with my income and expenditure and my receipts to check I was actually making a profit. I found a couple of hours with a tax assist accountant more than paid for itself.
 

katykicker

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Selling your own things is not taxable. I think if you make more than about £1000 a year they might question it though. If you do buy things to sell you can obviously use stock purchases as an expense. Also stationary, printer cartridges etc. If you work from home you can also claim part of your electricity bill. I think once you get into the big league it is worth registering for VAT but I am not an accountant. I found when I was selling books it was worth keeping a simple account book with my income and expenditure and my receipts to check I was actually making a profit. I found a couple of hours with a tax assist accountant more than paid for itself.
The VAT threshold is really high (70-80k) I've managed to stay under it and make lots of money still.
 

fraserbooks

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Vat is a bit different if you sell books as they are vat free but you can claim back vat on things you buy for your business. I am not sure how it works but people on the Amazombie forum who were doing it as a main source of income seemed to think it was worthwhile.
 

katykicker

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Vat is a bit different if you sell books as they are vat free but you can claim back vat on things you buy for your business. I am not sure how it works but people on the Amazombie forum who were doing it as a main source of income seemed to think it was worthwhile.
Yeah you're right, it is worth it, I was thinking from a blogging side ;)
 

Queen Jess

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Ok this is a copy and paste job! But here are some other ideas:

Ok hold on let me try and make a quick list of things I claimed for:

Percentage of bills (Broadband etc - not solely for work so only a % for me)
Mobile phone for work + bills for that
Camera + accessories (Used for work)
Any equipment solely for work
Backdrops
Purchases from Amazon for work
Post office spending for competition wins etc
Paypal expenses
Any social media scheduling software
Any purchases for work, things like photoshop, lightroom etc
Conference tickets
Travel for work + hotels etc
Mileage for work events (I didn't claim this this year but others can of course if applicable)
Social media adverts I paid for
Any fees from affiliate networks (one charges me 2% of my earnings)
Domain hosting + fees for that type of thing
Any paid plugins for my website / paid themes

I'm sure there is more but this is the stuff that comes to mind.

The areas I hadn't really bothered with were things like train tickets, post office, Amazon orders. For me these went into the 4 figures and I was shocked :D

I had also missed off a couple of social media scheduling fees and hadn't declared all of my advertising expenses, I'd also forgotten a new domain (just realised I forgot two but I'm not going to try and edit it now!)

Hope this is helpful!

There are also things like simplified expenses to look into, which varies based on the hours you work per month. Accounts fees etc.

I'm sure there is lots more, depending on what you do specifically for your job :) x

Cashback is only income if it’s against items you bought that you’re expensing. Like a tablet or upgrading broadband etc.

Yes to hosting
Yes to petrol for jobs

Ps - not an accountant so it’s just based on my own experiences!

Wouldn't cashback on items you claim be a reduction to your expense claim rather than an income? Makes no odds to the end calculation, but the substance of the transaction is that you paid less for your goods since you didn't do anything to earn that cashback.
 

katykicker

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Wouldn't cashback on items you claim be a reduction to your expense claim rather than an income? Makes no odds to the end calculation, but the substance of the transaction is that you paid less for your goods since you didn't do anything to earn that cashback.
Each person can interpret how they like :) For me this is an income, as I bought the item regardless and the cashback was never guaranteed until it arrived, and wasn't a discount as such. I have spoke with HMRC about this specifically but advise everyone else to do the same and make their own notes for their records :)
 

Queen Jess

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Each person can interpret how they like :) For me this is an income, as I bought the item regardless and the cashback was never guaranteed until it arrived, and wasn't a discount as such. I have spoke with HMRC about this specifically but advise everyone else to do the same and make their own notes for their records :)

It makes no difference to the end calculation anyway. Just was a long day at work and I was still wired and thinking far too much about stuff!
 
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