Can I claim for this?

[Debster]

I had a wobbly bannister due to the fact for yrs there have been kids hanging off it :). For safety reasons I had to have it replaced at a cost of £150.00 but if I was not minding I probably would have removed it altogether as my children are more grown up now. Can I claim for this or just part of it. I also replaced my carbon monoxide alarm can I claim for this too?

[bunyip]

I would say you could claim for the full cost of the CO monitor as a business expense.

AFAIK you cannot claim for the bannister at all. This is the sort of thing that is counted as "wear and tear" on the house as a whole. That is all included in the 10% of income allowed annually for wear and tear. :(

[MrAnchovy]

CO monitor sounds like a business expense to me.

The 10% allowance is for wear and tear of furniture, not the fabric of your home. There is no set formula for what you can claim for replacement of the bannister so claim what you think is reasonable (for instance if 20% of the journeys up and down stairs are while childminding, claim £30).

[bunyip]

Thanks for the correction, MrA.

Are there any implications to this that the OP needs to consider?

I ask this cos a CM friend of mine was planning to upgrade some parts of her home a while back to improve it for CMing purposes: eg. replacing external doors with security doors, new windows with better catches and safety glass, and suchlike. She was in conversation with an HMRC 'technical advisor' (I think that's the job title). The HMRC person said she could claim a proportion of it as "fabric of the building" or similar term, but that meant that her home would have to be considered as a business asset, at least in part. This in turn would have implications when she came to sell the house or stop childminding - effectively disposing of the "asset" (her home) by transferring it from the business, back to herself as a personal, domestic-only piece of property - so she might end up liable for other taxes. They also hinted that it might affect other things like possibly needing planning permission for change of use (business premises); insurance policy; and might not be allowed by her mortgage lenders. :p

In the end, I think she just didn't claim the expenses, as the whole area seemed a bit of a potential minefield.

Any advice?

[MrAnchovy]

... to improve it for CMing purposes: eg. replacing external doors with security doors, new windows with better catches and safety glass, and suchlike.

In general the only building work you can claim any part of is repair and maintenance: improvements and adaptations do not count. However you can claim Annual Investment Allowance for "safety equipment". What qualifies as safety equipment and what doesn't is not clear, but as examples a child gate does but secure window catches don't.


... that meant that her home would have to be considered as a business asset, at least in part.

This is wrong. The tax status of your home depends on its use, not what expenses you have claimed.


This in turn would have implications when she came to sell the house or stop childminding - effectively disposing of the "asset" (her home) by transferring it from the business, back to herself as a personal, domestic-only piece of property - so she might end up liable for other taxes.

This would be true if any part of the house was no longer used at all as a residence. For any part of your house that you use for childminding, it is important that you also use it as a family. So if you have a playroom, make sure that your children/grandchildren/friends and neighbours children use it at weekends.


They also hinted that it might affect other things like possibly needing planning permission for change of use (business premises)

Again the planning use class has nothing to do with claiming expenses. Planning is a matter for your Local Authority: in general you should not need consent if you are looking after six or fewer children - there have been other threads about planning on this forum (http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/general-childminding-chat/80545-planning-permission-if-i-have-more-than-6-children.html)


insurance policy; and might not be allowed by her mortgage lenders.

Any restrictions or notifications requireed by your insurer and mortgage provider (and/or landlord) are between you and them and are nothing to do with HMRC or any expenses you may claim.


In the end, I think she just didn't claim the expenses, as the whole area seemed a bit of a potential minefield.

It is a bit of a minefield, and because of the first point I made it is not usually worth trying to claim for building work (but make sure smoke alarms, stair gates etc. are itemised separately and claim for these).

[bunyip]

Many thanks. I appreciate such a detailed reply. :)

It looks as if the seeming paradox of conducting a business on domestic premises can confuse even the HMRC technical people. We do seem to be a bit of a special case in some respects. Non-CM friends of mine who conduct self-employed businesses from home have to define rooms or a %age of their homes which are set aside for business, and do all sorts of other things quite differently from us CMs.

[zippy]

Am I right in thinking I could claim for some table top savers to stop the little treasures scratching the surfaces, mine are old enough to know not to run their cars over them

[lilac_dragon]

I had a wobbly bannister due to the fact for yrs there have been kids hanging off it :). For safety reasons I had to have it replaced at a cost of £150.00 but if I was not minding I probably would have removed it altogether as my children are more grown up now. Can I claim for this or just part of it. I also replaced my carbon monoxide alarm can I claim for this too?

Along the same lines as this query - I'm in the process of replacing a door to my garden from my childminding room. Basically, the door just started to fall to pieces, after it slammed in a high wind and was unsafe, and wasn't a locking door anyway, apart from a catch at the top and bottom. So can I claim the cost of the replacement door as a business expense?.

[MrAnchovy]

It looks as if the seeming paradox of conducting a business on domestic premises can confuse even the HMRC technical people.

There were a number of test cases a few years ago that clarified a few things and resulted in a whole load of new internal HMRC guidance (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47800.htm) which not all staff may have been trained on.


Non-CM friends of mine who conduct self-employed businesses from home have to define rooms or a %age of their homes which are set aside for business, and do all sorts of other things quite differently from us CMs.

You can do things that way too if you are not looking after your own children while minding - you may be able to claim a higher percentage of costs, and you can claim more costs - in particular mortgage interest. I know CMs who have resubmitted tax returns on this basis and received refunds of £1,000s.

The only other things that are different for childminders are the 10% wear and tear allowance, the under £10 no receipt required rule and accepting any reasonable estimate for food costs.

[MrAnchovy]

Am I right in thinking I could claim for some table top savers to stop the little treasures scratching the surfaces, mine are old enough to know not to run their cars over them

Yes.
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[MrAnchovy]

Along the same lines as this query - I'm in the process of replacing a door to my garden from my childminding room. Basically, the door just started to fall to pieces, after it slammed in a high wind and was unsafe, and wasn't a locking door anyway, apart from a catch at the top and bottom. So can I claim the cost of the replacement door as a business expense?.

Providing this is a replacement and not an improvement (the difference from HMRC's point of view is explained here (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47800.htm)) you can claim a percentage relating to business use (so if you use the room 5 days a week for childminding and on the weekends for your family, 5/7 might be a reasonable claim).

[lilac_dragon]

Thank you Mr.Anchovy!
Although not cosmetic - the door was damaged when the wind caught it and slammed it open rather than shut, resulting in a badly cracked frame, which then meant the door wouldn't close properly and the crack meant the door was unsafe anyway - I have opted for a locking, safety glass door, because of the children I childmind. I probably wouldn't have spent so much on it if just for personal use as my own children are in their 30's and 40's!!

[MrAnchovy]

Sorry I gave a link to the wrong page for repairs vs. improvements - should have been this one (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM46904.htm).

[lilac_dragon]

Thank you again, even better example!

[zippy]

and you can claim more costs - in particular mortgage interest. I know CMs who have resubmitted tax returns on this basis and received refunds of £1,000s.

Could you tell me more about this please, my children are now in full time school so would be interested in this as long as it doesn't effect things when I come to sell the house.

[MrAnchovy]

The rules and their application are fairly complicated so I always advise using an accountant for this. If you want to go it alone, the information is here (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim47800.htm). I need to dash now but will be back tomorrow.