How much of my household expenses can i claim for my business?

I am a self-employed freelance graphic designer, I am based from home and half of my bedroom is an office. I work from home 2 days a week and in client offices 3 days a week.

I'm wondering how much (if any) of the following I can claim as a business expense, with relation to UK tax law:
- My rent (as my office is at home and i work from home)
- Electricty cost (as above)
- Internet and phone line (both are used almost exclusively for business use)
- Council tax

I genuinely use my home for my business so i'm sure i should be able to claim some of the above, i'm just not sure how much or how to calculate it.

Paul H - Would you include rent in this calculation?

The formula i use is. firstly add together you houshold bills eg. gas,electric etc to find your yearly total. (eg 拢1000).
now divide the total by 365 giving a daily cost (eg 27.77)
divide the 27.77 by the amount of rooms in the house (eg 5)
giving each room a cost of 拢5.55 per room per day.
muliply the daily amount by the amount of days you use the room each week giving a realistic tax deductable figure.

Yes rent should be included in the calculations.

I only know for sure, we got a deduction for our phone.

You can claim all of the above...plus any supplies you buy for a printer/copier/FAX, paper, pens, advertising costs, etc. It's best to talk to your tax consultant because they can get you the most for your expenses

Claim proportion of rent based on number of rooms in dwelling, but excluding kitchen and bathroom.
Restrict this to 2/7 to represent occupancy.
Claim ppn. of council tax, light and heat on same basis. Don't forget insurance, water rates etc if you pay these.
Claim 90% of internet and phone.

One Step Down from God is spot on.