A previous edition of Tax Insider dealt with expenses landlords forget to claim: Council tax when working from home. I have sought to claim these for 2017/18 but my accountant has not advised it on the basis that it may affect a main residence claim for capital gains tax  purposes. Please advise what is the correct approach.

Arthur Weller replies:
You are able to claim for Council tax - see www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-manual/bim47820 and the examples at BIM47825. Your accountant is correct that it could restrict the main residence relief from CGT when you eventually sell the house. Basically, it depends upon whether the rooms you use are exclusively used for your work, or also partly used for non-work purposes. See www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gainsmanual/cg64650 to CG64690, in particular CG64663.