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arcington
May 31, 2020
Question

How to properly track utilities, internet, phone...

  • May 31, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

I currently work both as an Independent Contractor for a company in the US. I believe HMRC classes this as a sole trader. I am also employed part time by a separate company. I do 40 hours of IC work at home per week, in addition to 7.2 hours per week part time employment outside of my home.

 

I'm struggling to figure out how to handle deductibles for utilities and internet, for the work done at home. Do I class the monthly utility payments as personal or business? If business, do I split it? If I split it, what proportion do I assign to personal and business? If I instead classify the transaction as personal, how does QuickBooks know how much deductible allowance to set? When I class them as personal it is not showing any deductible allowance.

 

I don't feel any of this is particularly intuitive, or well explained anywhere. I've checked the forum and knowledgebase but can't find a solid answer to these questions.

 

For what it's worth, I've entered the number of hours I work at home per month, as well as the total Paye income from the part time employment, in the relevant fields for the user tax settings.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Edit: it's just occurred that I also rent my home, so there's a monthly transaction for that, too, for which I believe some would be tax deductible.

1 reply

G
GlinetteC
May 31, 2020

Hi there, arcington.

 

Thank you for posting here in the Community. Let me share some insights on how we can handle your deductibles in QuickBooks Self-Employed. 

 

As for the splitting of your monthly utilities, you may consider looking for ways to find out how much to pay. Let's say for electricity, you can use a meter as to how much has been consumed for electricity while working at home. That way, you can split a transaction to your Self-Employed.

 

As for how much deductible allowance to set, QuickBooks is unable to identify the deductible allowance for personal. So it's a better idea to split it. Again, it needs something to measure how much is spent for personal versus business to serve as your basis for the split.

 

I also highly suggest consulting your accountant for guidance about this to ensure the accuracy of your books. If you're not affiliated with one, our Intuit Find-A-ProAdvisor site can help you to find certified professionals in your area.

 

If you have any other concerns, please don't hesitate to post again anytime here.

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