[Mike_Outlook]

Hi,
   sorry to keep harping on about it,but after careful consideration,have finally reached conclusion that it's ok to claim part of your water rates bill as a legitimate expense against tax,even flat rate with no meter.
    Reason being that I popped into my local aquarium/pond shop the other day for some pond item,and happened to get chatting about what you can or cannot do with waste water from RO/DI systems, as fish people also use these systems too,and found out that its definitely NOT good to use waste water to top up ponds (no  good for the fish at all) but fine for the garden,plants like all that muck apparently!
    Anyway(I digress)we then got talking about using water for business purposes,and what you could or could not claim,and I suggested that I'd claim against tax if I ever got Metered,whereupon he then informed me that you can even claim against a flat rate water bill and that he already did (aquarium shops use quite a lot of water!) and that you could claim a percentage in much the same way as you can with various other utility bills. Presumably the actual percentage is something that  you'ld have to discuss with the accountant though.
    Interestingly he also confirmed something that I'd sort of "guestimated"myself which was that percentage wastage is somewhere around the 75-80% mark,although I realise this depends on a lot of factors,and how much you wish to refine and upgrade your system.
                                     Mike

[carl stanton]

you may harp on about this one!  it would add up in the end, i mean i use say 25ltrs a day on trad so must be more for wfp, i would not be surprised if wfp use half the water your household consumes! if you think about it like you say you can get a percentage for other bills so why not the most important, water!

[windows_chepstow]

I disagree.

The guiding principle must be you can only claim something against your tax if you pay out for it in the first place.  Okay, I know you pay your water bill, but if it's a 'flat rate', then you'd pay for that anyway.

It's okay for an aquarium shop to say he claims his water bills back through his tax, but of course he would.  In this instance it's a legitimate expense.

The owner of the aquarium business doesn't (or shouldn't) claim his private house's water bill too.

I think if you were subject to a tax investigation; you'd get picked up on it.

[carl stanton]

fair poiunt tosh, and you have got a bit of a fixation to tax at the mo!   
 just go and see what the tax office say they can be very helpful.

Tosh are you going to sleep with your tax return tonight! lol 

[JohnL]

I think you could claim if you are on a business water rate which I believe is higher than residential rates, but this would then kick in the local council tax rates ie is the home registered as a business etc etc

Looks like a can of worms to me 

JohnL

[macc]

MIKE. As tosh said basicley, FORGET IT. You will have to pay that bill any way. phone them, they will say the same, get an investigation & they wont be happy.

[Mike_Outlook]

yeah you could be right,don't wanna upset the taxman if you don't have to I s'pose,but it just seemed to me,if you work from home and can claim some electric an' stuff,it might be ok,but as said,definitely a can of worms.Still,thats tax laws for you!
  Oh well,back to the drawing board then.Hey ho!
          cheers
               Mike     

[wightsurf]

i'm on a metre so can i claim???

[windows_chepstow]

i'm on a metre so can i claim???

Yes, I'd check your previous bills and claim the difference between your previous water usage; prior to going WFP; and what you now pay.

Obviously, there may be variations in your old metered price and your current one.

It'll not be an exact science, but claim what you can reasonably argue if investigated.

[wightsurf]

Thanks Tosh