Sometimes, you may need to split your costs between activities that count as candidate spending and those that don’t.
For example, between:
items used both before and during the regulated period
your candidate spending and non-regulated activities such as an office that you share with someone else
In all cases you should make an honest assessment, based on the facts, of the proportion of expenditure that can fairly be attributed to your candidate spending. You should only report the amount of spending used during the regulated period that is regarded as being used for purposes of your campaign.
In these cases, you should consider the best way of making an honest assessment on the information you have. For example, if you are sharing an office, the telephone bill may only provide a breakdown of the cost of calls over a certain value. You could therefore compare the bill with one that does not cover a regulated period.
It is your responsibility to report your candidate spending fully and accurately. You should ensure you understand the rules and that all spending is properly authorised, recorded, and reported.
After the election, you will have to sign a declaration to declare that it is complete and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief.1
It is an offence to knowingly make a false declaration.2
If you are still not sure, call or email us for advice.