Claiming accomodation Mon-Fri, live permanently with parents 300 miles away

[KRose]

Hi all

Just wondering how this situation would work in terms of expenses:

Contract is outside IR35 and 11 months in length, still under 24 months.
My Ltd co is registered at parents address, 250 miles away. I count this as primary address.
I rent a furnished room Mon-Fri, and go back on weekends.

Can I claim the expenses for the Mon-Fri accomodation?

Is there anything I should include in the contract, other than having it in my company name- the Landlord is happy to help with this.
Also could I rent 7 days a week but only claim Mon-Fri as expenses (i.e. 5 out of 7 days) if I sometimes stay at weekends?

Thank you for the help

[psychocandy]

Hi all

Just wondering how this situation would work in terms of expenses:

Contract is outside IR35 and 11 months in length, still under 24 months.
My Ltd co is registered at parents address, 250 miles away. I count this as primary address.
I rent a furnished room Mon-Fri, and go back on weekends.

Can I claim the expenses for the Mon-Fri accomodation?

Is there anything I should include in the contract, other than having it in my company name- the Landlord is happy to help with this.
Also could I rent 7 days a week but only claim Mon-Fri as expenses (i.e. 5 out of 7 days) if I sometimes stay at weekends?

Thank you for the help

Yes. No need to rent in company name. Company is re-imbursing you as an individual for staying away in business.

If you were a perm and employer asked you to stay away you'd book hotel in your name and claim it back. Same thing.

If you rent somewhere and its full time (can you rent a place for 5 days) then so be it. Whos going to know if you use at weekend once or twice?

[matzie]

If you rent somewhere and its full time (can you rent a place for 5 days) then so be it. Whos going to know if you use at weekend once or twice?

For a brief period when I had a 7 rather than 5 day rental of my midweek lodgings, I paid tax and NI on the benefit of employer-provided accommodation at 2/7ths of the cost, because, whether or not I made use of it, it was available to me. Can't give chapter and verse on whether that's correct but it fits the risk profile I use when running my business - we all make such decisions every day.

[dx4100]

For a brief period when I had a 7 rather than 5 day rental of my midweek lodgings, I paid tax and NI on the benefit of employer-provided accommodation at 2/7ths of the cost, because, whether or not I made use of it, it was available to me. Can't give chapter and verse on whether that's correct but it fits the risk profile I use when running my business - we all make such decisions every day.

If you was not using it for the 2 days over the weekend then I fail to see where you would of got any sort of benefit ?

Surely any investigation would of drawn the same conclusion if you was also claiming travel to and from it on a Friday / Monday or you had a mortgaged home / rented main home ?

[northernladuk]

If you was not using it for the 2 days over the weekend then I fail to see where you would of got any sort of benefit ?

Surely any investigation would of drawn the same conclusion if you was also claiming travel to and from it on a Friday / Monday or you had a mortgaged home / rented main home ?

Nope. It has to be wholly and exclusively for the work. You don't work 2 days so you are getting personal benefit. Same rule of thumb applies to a majority of things.
Has to be a one rule fits all else it gets far too complicated. You can't judge every case on its individual merits when it gets investigated, it just won't work. And you can see from questions like this, allowing us to say whether it's allowable or not isn't a good idea either. Wholly and exclusive does remove plenty of ambiguity.

[northernladuk]

Yes. No need to rent in company name. Company is re-imbursing you as an individual for staying away in business.

If you were a perm and employer asked you to stay away you'd book hotel in your name and claim it back. Same thing.

If you rent somewhere and its full time (can you rent a place for 5 days) then so be it. Whos going to know if you use at weekend once or twice?

But is the saving you get putting those 2 days through the the books really worth the risk? Who knows but saving low 10's of pounds? I'd rather keep it clean.

[dx4100]

Nope. It has to be wholly and exclusively for the work. You don't work 2 days so you are getting personal benefit. Same rule of thumb applies to a majority of things.
Has to be a one rule fits all else it gets far too complicated.

That makes no logical sense. If its not being used for two days it remains at the disposal of the business. If you use it at the weekend for anything other than work purposes then sure, you need to pay.

Renting accommodation as a contractor | Intouch Accounting

If you are not staying in the accommodation at the weekend and going back to your main residence then you can claim the full cost for a weeks rent is my understanding.

[northernladuk]

That makes no logical sense. If its not being used for two days it remains at the disposal of the business. If you use it at the weekend for anything other than work purposes then sure, you need to pay.

Renting accommodation as a contractor | Intouch Accounting

If you are not staying in the accommodation at the weekend and going back to your main residence then you can claim the full cost for a weeks rent is my understanding.

I'm very surprised at that.

[ASB]

When I had previously obtained accommodation I put some through as BIK. This was after an enquiry. HMIT was happy with that.

I question, however, when living with parents whether it would be allowable at all. Your parents is not your household.

THe question is whether the rented accommodation is the only home. HMIT may want to make that argument.

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...480__2016_.pdf

[FrontEnder]

That makes no logical sense. If its not being used for two days it remains at the disposal of the business. If you use it at the weekend for anything other than work purposes then sure, you need to pay.

Renting accommodation as a contractor | Intouch Accounting

If you are not staying in the accommodation at the weekend and going back to your main residence then you can claim the full cost for a weeks rent is my understanding.

This is what I'm currently doing and my accountant was fine with this.

I rent a room on a weekly basis. I only stay there on the nights I'm working and travel back home in between. In my view, it is used wholly and exclusively for business use. I can only rent the accommodation for the full week.

I think it's also important to look at it from a practical point of view. I'm renting a room in a house with shared kitchen facilities, primarily to reduce the expenses my business incurs.

The alternative for me is to stay in a hotel, which round here would cost much more, and pay out more for takeaways and restaurant meals. I estimate I'm saving my business a couple of hundred a week by doing this. I'm also therefore increasing the amount of corporation tax I'd pay.