We are coming up to our first tax return and I wondered if I could enlist the help of hosts, particullarly those that use a woodburner as a main source of heat, (as we do, augmented by oil rads, infra red and fan heaters). Our rental is approximately the size of a 2/3 bed bungalow and our woodburner is fed from wood from our garden. So we don’t really have a clue as to the cost of wood. We do know that the usage is slightly higher in cold spells and even in summer wood is used in the chimera.
Any help would be appreciated.
Consult a tax professional
@GentleHart you can’t claim a tax allowance against something you aren’t paying for (unless your accountant tells you differently)
I get my logs about 12 large bags at a time. I don’t know how long it lasts. I just top up when it gets low.
If you go online you will see prices from wood companies.
Thanks Helsi. I understand the tax aspects. Our difficulty is we have incurred costs (tree surgeons) to fell and prep the wood guests have used and our understanding is this is a legitimate cost we can claim against income. That wood is also used in our cottage’s woodburners. So trying to work out a reasonable cost allocation, whilst not impossible, would take time and lots of assumptions.
I just hoped someone in a similar position i.e. needing to cost the wood their guest’s use, would offer to share it, thus save us what will probably be guesswork.
I charge £5 per bag, basically what we would pay for a standard bag of about 20 kgs. It’s an optional extra, rarely used and I would need a receipt for tax purposes. Fortunately at the moment we have enough from fellage two years ago. Tree surgery not claimed as we weren’t hosting at the time.
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Thanks for replying Joan. That’s useful info.
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I’m in US, I would use relative square footage (not forgetting the use days over use + personal days ratio also, which is how I divide up the utilities, gutter cleaning, etc. As long as it’s rational and reasonable, it should pass muster with the IRS here.
That’s really interesting. Thank you. I hadn’t thought of using that approach.
Then why not use that cost as a tax deductible for your airbnb business. If it was for both your own home and your Airbnb property. You can split the bill accordingly.
I am not sure you can claim for the cost of the wood if you are not paying for it, but I am sure you accountant can advise.
When I ran a business I couldn’t claim expenses without receipts but the tax system may work differently in your country.
“Here’s the invoices from tree fellage, of which 70% was for Airbnb outgoings”
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Over the years We have allocated part of several costs used in the up keep of our businesses. As long as it is reasonable it hasn’t been a problem. If roughly, say, 10% or 30% or whatever % of logs you have is used for guests claim that % of the felling bill.