Council tax

Council tax is a tax that you pay to your local council so they can fund services in your community.

Every property in the UK is put into a council tax band. This band is based on size, location, and a few other factors. The tax is then set as a fixed amount for each band.

If you’re self-employed and working from home, you can claim a proportion of your council tax. What you claim should be based on the number of rooms used for your self-employment, and how much time you work from home.

Example of claiming council tax if you’re self-employed:

• let’s say that you have 3 rooms in your flat, and you use one for work
• in this case, you are allowed to claim up to 1/3 of your council tax against your annual Self Assessment tax bill
• if you work from home for more than 25 hours each month, you might want to use HMRC’s simplified expenses system instead (also called the “Home Office Allowance”).