Vat on garden office included in main house planning permission? Plus changes since approved plans.

[Roz]

Has anyone got any experience / knowledge on whether you can include a garden office in your VAT reclaim? It was on our planning permission for the main house.  It’s an insulated garden room which we perhaps stupidly called a workshop on our planning permission, but it was always going to be our home office with desks etc. 

 

Does anyone know if you can include these? I used to think not but there’s a section online where it asks if you want to include any other buildings. 

 

To complicate matters one end of it is a shed, which I don’t think you can claim for.

 

Lastly what about changes that you have made during the build that you didn’t notify the council about? E.g. We originally planned for an oil tank but put in an ASHP instead - will they not allow us to claim the VAT for the ASHP as it’s not on our plans? 

Edited March 3 by Roz

[Bonner]

Are you buying a workshop kit or just materials? Contractor to build it? ASHP installation by self or contractor?

[Temp]

You can't normally claim for outbuildings but see this post which suggests it might be possible depending on what the outbuilding is going to be. The idea is its not really an outbuilding, just your house is in two parts...

 

Might be worth amending the plans to replace "workshop" with "Home Office"....but I'm not sure if there is a fee for that. 

 

Is your Home Office going to be for business use? Then it can be reclaimed through the business if VAT rated? Beware that might trigger business rates? Capital Gains Tax? 

 

https://yorkshireaccountancy.co.uk/blog/tax-implications-of-building-a-home-office/#:~:text=Running Costs%3A VAT on expenses,ready-made office is reclaimable.

 

  Quote

 

VAT Rules for Home Offices

 

VAT rules differ from income and corporation tax regulations. Here’s how VAT applies to home office expenses:

 

Running Costs: VAT on expenses like heating, lighting, and internet for business purposes can be reclaimed.

 

Building Costs: VAT for building, buying, or decorating a ready-made office is reclaimable.

 

Partial Business Use: If you use the office for both personal and business activities, only the business portion of VAT on expenses is reclaimable. This proportion should be based on reasonable calculations.

 

Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) Notes:

 

For expenses over £2,000, you can reclaim VAT as long as labour and goods costs are itemised on the invoice.Invoices under £2,000 don’t require a business-use split.

 

Expand  

 

[Temp]

  On 03/03/2025 at 13:18, Roz said:

Lastly what about changes that you have made during the build that you didn’t notify the council about? E.g. We originally planned for an oil tank but put in an ASHP instead - will they not allow us to claim the VAT for the ASHP as it’s not on our plans? 

Expand  

 

Normally ASHP is a supply and fit item. Eg The installer should zero rate both the ASHP and their labour to you. So there is  no VAT to reclaim. Same as you do for other trades that supply materials like the electrician.

 

If you are buying the ASHP yourself then yes you can reclaim the VAT. I would add a note to the reciept stating that there was a design change to use ASHP rather than an Oil Boiler. 

Edited March 3 by Temp

[Roz]

  On 03/03/2025 at 18:40, Temp said:

 

Normally ASHP is a supply and fit item. Eg The installer should zero rate both the ASHP and their labour to you. So there is  no VAT to reclaim. Same as you do for other trades that supply materials like the electrician.

 

If you are buying the ASHP yourself then yes you can reclaim the VAT. I would add a note to the reciept stating that there was a design change to use ASHP rather than an Oil Boiler. 

Expand  

Thanks Temp, we bought the ASHP separately, maybe our installer wasn’t VAT registered I can’t remember anymore! I’ll give writing a note on the invoice / form a go! 

[Roz]

  On 03/03/2025 at 18:33, Temp said:

You can't normally claim for outbuildings but see this post which suggests it might be possible depending on what the outbuilding is going to be. The idea is its not really an outbuilding, just your house is in two parts...

 

Might be worth amending the plans to replace "workshop" with "Home Office"....but I'm not sure if there is a fee for that. 

 

Is your Home Office going to be for business use? Then it can be reclaimed through the business if VAT rated? Beware that might trigger business rates? Capital Gains Tax? 

 

https://yorkshireaccountancy.co.uk/blog/tax-implications-of-building-a-home-office/#:~:text=Running Costs%3A VAT on expenses,ready-made office is reclaimable.

 

 

Expand  

Thanks for the thoughts on this Temp - I’m not VAT registered as a business so can’t claim that way. And I think it’s too late to update our plans as we’ve completed already and I’m looking at doing the reclaim now 😅 . Wish I hadn’t called it a ‘workshop’, it’s just what we’d been saying to each other as a place we would work! 

 

I will give that thread a read thank you 

[Roz]

  On 03/03/2025 at 17:45, Bonner said:

Are you buying a workshop kit or just materials? Contractor to build it? ASHP installation by self or contractor?

Expand  

We bought SIP panels pre-cut from a local company but we put it up ourselves - it’s already complete. ASHP was by a contractor but we bought the ASHP separately

[Roz]

Reading some of the extracts from that thread suggest it might not be worth trying - I don’t want to put it on and then have them question every other invoice we submit for proof it wasn’t used on the garden room.. 

 

But havent watched the vide yet!

[Bonner]

In my recent experience of VAT claim, they ask few questions. I would just put the SIPs on the materials list (no explanation is necessary). If they ask what they are for, then you can argue it’s part of the approved plans. As per the snip, you can claim for materials incorporated in the site and the list of allowable items rules out sheds but not workshops.

There won’t be any issue with the ASHP, again no explanation needed unless they ask.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-refunds-for-new-builds-if-youre-a-diy-housebuilder#goods-you-can-or-cannot-claim-for

[Roz]

  On 04/03/2025 at 09:34, Bonner said:

In my recent experience of VAT claim, they ask few questions. I would just put the SIPs on the materials list (no explanation is necessary). If they ask what they are for, then you can argue it’s part of the approved plans. As per the snip, you can claim for materials incorporated in the site and the list of allowable items rules out sheds but not workshops.

There won’t be any issue with the ASHP, again no explanation needed unless they ask.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-refunds-for-new-builds-if-youre-a-diy-housebuilder#goods-you-can-or-cannot-claim-for

Expand  

Thanks Bonner. I thought workshops were specifically ruled out?

Now I don’t know whether to say ‘yes’ when they ask if it includes any other buildings or just say no but put all the materials on the list. What do you think? I could say ‘yes’ to are there any other rooms (they ask if there’s anything other than kitchen bathroom and bedrooms). 

 

Although I did just watch that video from Andrew Jones and he specifies no to garden rooms so perhaps should just leave it out. I’m going around in circles haha
 

Edited March 4 by Roz

[Bonner]

Just looked back at my application form. Since they ask for copies of your planning approval and drawings, I think you need to reflect details shown in these documents, in your application. So if your drawings show a workshop, that is what you need to declare. I can’t see anything in the rules which exclude a workshop, garages are clearly allowed so why not similar permanent structures? Sheds are excluded presumably because they are not considered permanent.