Business class to fly back early from holiday for work

[NotAllThere]

Deducting the cost of the flight you would have otherwise taken from the claim seems reasonable.

It does, but HMRC don't care about whether it's reasonable. That's not the test.

[BlasterBates]

Lets face it claiming a business expense for a ticket flying back from an exotic holiday destination to work in Birmingham is going to be a hard sell. My advice would be to postpone the contract or meeting. I think HMRC would view this as your own personal mistake in planning a holiday.

[TheFaQQer]

Lets face it claiming a business expense for a ticket flying back from an exotic holiday destination to work in Birmingham is going to be a hard sell.

How so?

The OP has a ticket to fly back home at a later date (evidenced by having a ticket). The business requires him to cut short the holiday and fly back early (evidenced by needing to be in the UK and having a ticket that is before the other one).

I'd think it was pretty easy to convince anyone that you would rather be away on holiday than working in Birmingham, particularly with evidence of flights previously arranged and having to get a new flight home. Who in their right mind would want to waste money and cut short he holiday?

Seems a simple argument to win.

[WTFH]

But is there a business requirement or is he creating a business requirement?

What I mean is that currently he does not have a contract, there is no need for him to go home to fulfill an existing contract.
If he goes home early from his holiday it is because he has chosen to accept a new contract.
That’s the thing - is he actively looking to find a contract so he can then claim a flight upgrade as a company expense?
How special would the contract need to be to want you to cancel your holiday mid way through, or to refuse to try to negotiate a later start date on the contract?

[WTFH]

Basically, if you’re saying this is a legitimate business expense, then what is to stop any of us booking holidays and making the return flight to be the cheapest possible fare we can find, but a month later than we intend to come home, then getting out there and buying a ticket claiming we have to get home for work?

[BrilloPad]

Basically, if you’re saying this is a legitimate business expense, then what is to stop any of us booking holidays and making the return flight to be the cheapest possible fare we can find, but a month later than we intend to come home, then getting out there and buying a ticket claiming we have to get home for work?

If he was the only person to do it and did not get caught it would be fine.

A chap I worked with in 1988 said his accountant got all his contractors to get their company to pay themselves a contract finders fee. HMRC disallowed it when they saw it.

Obviously the landscape is very different 30 years on.....

[SeanT]

Basically, if you’re saying this is a legitimate business expense, then what is to stop any of us booking holidays and making the return flight to be the cheapest possible fare we can find, but a month later than we intend to come home, then getting out there and buying a ticket claiming we have to get home for work?

The fact it's still our income we'd be wasting, as mentioned above?

[TheFaQQer]

Basically, if you’re saying this is a legitimate business expense, then what is to stop any of us booking holidays and making the return flight to be the cheapest possible fare we can find, but a month later than we intend to come home, then getting out there and buying a ticket claiming we have to get home for work?

And they say you can't put a price on stupidity.

[Maslins]

Basically, if you’re saying this is a legitimate business expense, then what is to stop any of us booking holidays and making the return flight to be the cheapest possible fare we can find, but a month later than we intend to come home, then getting out there and buying a ticket claiming we have to get home for work?

I'm struggling to think of a situation where that would benefit the individual concerned. Basically instead of paying for one flight and not getting tax relief, you're paying for two flights and getting tax relief on one of them.

I guess the only situation is if you really want the perks of business class, so you get an economy flight personally costing (say) £100, then a short notice business class trip via the company costing (say) £1,000. If you get tax relief on the latter, at a marginal rate of (say) 40%, then you end up with a business class flight back from your holiday for £700 (being 60% of £1,000 plus £100 wasted on other flight) as opposed to £1,000. Still, can't see many people thinking that's a real win for them, to my mind it's just a win for the airline and a loss for taxpayer and taxman.

[washed up contractor]

Hi

Im taking a long holiday at the moment for a few months. If a job comes up, can i reasonably take a long haul business flight back early, considering it may cost ££££ at short notice.

Thanks

And this is the sort of tulip that makes HMRC push for Public Sector revised (or whatever you want to call it \ them) IR35 regulation to be hurriedly implemented into the Private Sector.

Sometimes you realise we've only ourselves to blame.