Working from Home and Business Rates
July 28th, 2011
If you work at or from home, the part of the property used for work may be liable for business rates.
If the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has given a rateable value to a part of your home then you will have to pay business rates on that part.
The remainder of the property will still be liable for council tax.
How is the assessment made?
There are a number of factors that the VOA will consider when they are deciding whether or not the part of your property used for work is liable for business rates. These include:
- the extent and frequency that the room (or rooms) is used for work
- if any modifications have been made to the building to accommodate work use
Each case is considered on its own merits, and the VOA will normally ask to visit your property to check the facts before an assessment is made.
Your local authority will use the rateable value to calculate the business rates bill and send it out annually.
There are several rate relief schemes available which may reduce your bill. Your local authority will administer these.
What is a composite property?
The Valuation Office Agency use the term ‘composite’, or ‘comp’, to indicate whether a property is mixed use. This means it contains both domestic and business/non-domestic areas, and these areas are used by the same occupiers.
Examples of composite properties include:
- a guest house with living accommodation for the owner
- a hotel with staff quarters
- a house that contains an area used exclusively for working from home
The domestic area of a composite property will be liable for council tax. The business or non-domestic area will be liable for business rates. You will not pay both taxes on the same part of the property.
Use of home as an office
Many small businesses use their home as the principle place of business. Where part of the house is used solely for business purposes there is a genuine risk that Business Rates will apply.
A balance needs to be made between maximizing the claim for tax relief for use of home as office and the extra cost of business rates compared with domestic council tax.
Generally those small businesses that merely set aside part of a room or use a study as a workplace, but also use the same room for domestic purposes are not especially at risk.
However where a person builds a loft or garage conversion, or builds a “summer house” in the garden for business use should consider themselves likely to be caught out as a composite property.
