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This is really a gray area. However, as long as there are no money involved, no tax inspector or law enforcement will have anything to say. Any tax would imply

by ccozan 11y ago

This is really a gray area. However, as long as there are no money involved, no tax inspector or law enforcement will have anything to say. Any tax would imply an income, or a profit. Impossible to tell where is my profit in this hoffice thing. Maybe having fun? Meditation in the morning? Ten years ago I went every Thursday to a friend and we were 10 people playing CS or whatever in a really nice lanparty. What is the difference now? Hey, Mr Inspector we do a codeparty ( hackaton would immediatelly trigger other responses from law enforcement ). As long as there is no noise, no disturbance of any kind ( maybe cars in fron door, but here we speak of highly urbanized areas ), I see no reason why any law enforcement would knock on my door.

austinjp 11y ago
I admire your optimistic outlook :) Like I've said, it's not whether it is a business, it's whether it looks like a business that will attract tax inspectors. A tax inspection is not trivial. If you come out clean, congratulations. But if you don't relish the prospect of the tax inspector saying to you "Okay show me your accounts plus invoices and receipts for everything for the past 5 years", followed by several weeks of accoutancy grind-work, then it's wise to be prepared in advance. Cars on the front lawn and a sign in your window are definitely reasons that the council (not the law) may visit you. Okay -- I'm done with this. I've said my piece :) In summary: 1. Good luck Hoffice! Looks great. 2. Hoffice and hosts, understand your responsibilities regarding tax and insurance. 3. Tax inspectors and council inspectors are real, and they knock on doors of people like you and me every day. 4. You should try to predict tax/legal liabilities beforehand. 5. Saying you're legit doesn't prove it. Proving it does :) And that can be a real headache. Edit: typo and formatting.
- ccozan 11y ago
  Well, I am an optimistic person :). Summarizing, I see this problems with Hoffice: 1. Zoning problem, ie. legality of work-from-home. 2. Tax and liability of the host/guest - who is making an income or profit here? 3. Is this a business or not? On the whole, this idea is quite not regulated and might be that everything is on fringe of law or in a gray area. On the same time, indeed, wish good luck to Hoffice. I hope the have attraction and this might be more common than we think.
DanBC 11y ago
> What is the difference now? The difference is that working people are using it as a location to work from. This is true even if the property owner isn't charging them money to work there. It's commercial activity.

by ccozan 11y ago

austinjp 11y ago

I admire your optimistic outlook :) Like I've said, it's not whether it is a business, it's whether it looks like a business that will attract tax inspectors. A tax inspection is not trivial. If you come out clean, congratulations. But if you don't relish the prospect of the tax inspector saying to you "Okay show me your accounts plus invoices and receipts for everything for the past 5 years", followed by several weeks of accoutancy grind-work, then it's wise to be prepared in advance. Cars on the front lawn and a sign in your window are definitely reasons that the council (not the law) may visit you. Okay -- I'm done with this. I've said my piece :) In summary: 1. Good luck Hoffice! Looks great. 2. Hoffice and hosts, understand your responsibilities regarding tax and insurance. 3. Tax inspectors and council inspectors are real, and they knock on doors of people like you and me every day. 4. You should try to predict tax/legal liabilities beforehand. 5. Saying you're legit doesn't prove it. Proving it does :) And that can be a real headache. Edit: typo and formatting.

ccozan 11y ago
Well, I am an optimistic person :). Summarizing, I see this problems with Hoffice: 1. Zoning problem, ie. legality of work-from-home. 2. Tax and liability of the host/guest - who is making an income or profit here? 3. Is this a business or not? On the whole, this idea is quite not regulated and might be that everything is on fringe of law or in a gray area. On the same time, indeed, wish good luck to Hoffice. I hope the have attraction and this might be more common than we think.

DanBC 11y ago

> What is the difference now? The difference is that working people are using it as a location to work from. This is true even if the property owner isn't charging them money to work there. It's commercial activity.