New Office Almost Built
I know what you're all thinking -- "How's the new office coming along Jake?". Well....
Leo had said it would have been finished last weekend, but he ran out of blocks, again. it's a good job he's no quantity surveyor!
More blocks arrived yesterday and Leo returns this Saturday to finish off building. All I need to do then is slap a roof on and we're almost there. The plasterer is booked for the 24th. So, all being well, I hope to still be moving in there by the end the month. Hurrah.
My accountant was here yesterday for our yearly review, so I quizzed him on what I can/can't claim back as business expenses. He confirmed that - broadly speaking - I was right in thinking that anything easily removable can be claimed for. Anything that is part of the actual build can't. So, for example, I can't claim for the bricks or even the plasterer, but I can claim for the lighting, panel heater, desk and chair etc. He even said I could probably get away with claiming for the oak flooring if I wanted to, which is nice because it ain't cheap.
Anyway, a bit about the budget, for those interested. Setting a limit on how much a job is going to cost isn't normally something I do. In this case though I thought it wise and had given Karen my word that it wouldn't cost more than £5k. So far so good. What you see in the photo above has cost £2,980. That includes everything including skip hire, materials, labour cost for Leo and his helper friend and absolutely everything else, even down to a single bag of cement. That leaves me £2,100 to put the roof on, plaster inside, render outside, lay the flooring and treat myself to a new chair. It's going to be tight, but I should be able to do it. Watch this space.
Oh, one other thing. The accountant said I could charge Rockall rent! Nice. It might end up paying for itself over time.
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I let out a cheer when the picture loaded. Looking good. Electric heat? I've heard the silicon filled are very efficient if you're heading that way. I'm glad to see that window as well. I had hoped you would allow yourself a nice scenic view out the back.
My big expenditure towards finishing my office this week was an $80 compound miter saw. I've been cutting and nailing trim since Saturday (in my spare moments). Almost there!
Not sure if it was just scaremongering but I was under the impression that anything that could even create a hint of commercial use ( such as renting back ) was best avoided for both Capital Gains Tax and local busness rates reasons
You should look into how much electrcity your computeres use. I was running 4 servers in a secure rack in the garage a couple of years ( pre Vmware ) ago and a very conservative estimate was over £500 of electricity
Cheers, Sean
what type of roof are you going to be doing???? pitched/flat ????
The view isn't too bad Jerry. After I cleared it up that is. The "neighbours" had thrown a climbing frame over in to the stream years ago. I went to ask if we could move it and they said yes, so we took the chance to have a general tidy up the "river" bank. Immediately to the rear of the office is a "babbling brook". The best thing is going to be having the window open in the summer and listen to the water trickle by. Very calming.
CGT is a "fuzzy area" as I understand it. I touched on it with the accountant and he put my mind at rest.
Here's his example (which could be wrong, but you'll get the idea). Say you buy a house for 200k and sell it at some point for 400k (not as likely as it used to be). You've made a profit of 200k. The percentage of this liable to CGT is equal to the percentage of the house's floor area used by the company. In his example 10%, but in my case probably less. 10% of 200k is 20k. The first 18k is tax free and say you end up paying tax on 2k.
I think he even halved that by saying that half the profit is Karen's. Either way, I don't mind having to pay tax on 2k.
It will be a flat roof Stu. Like for like was the proposal I put to the council and there was a flat one on the old'en.
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in years to come, will domino geeks come to pay homage...
if that's your office door in the photo, I think it may be too big! hope it isn't. I once had an office with a door like that (i.e. a garage) and every time the door was opened all the papers on my colleague's desk just took off into the air and flew down the street. Luckily my desk was at the rear. You have been warned!
"treat myself to a new chair. It's going to be tight, but I should be able to do it."
Lose some weight then you doughnut.
was wondering if this link helps at all?
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