NW take home pay calculator

[mudskipper]

http://www.nixonwilliams.com/images/...es%20Guide.pdf

"The cost of lunch can be claimed when
working at a temporary workplace. This must
be in the form of a pre-packed sandwich or a
meal at a cafe, the cost would not be allowable
if the employee was simply reimbursed
for the ingredients to prepare his/her own
packed lunch."

This is the view taken by almost all accountants, and reflects HMRC guidelines.

[mudskipper]

SJD:

You can claim actual meal costs whilst you are working at a remote site, away from
your normal place of work, or when staying away from home overnight, but daily,
round sum claims for meals are not permitted.

[malvolio]

Whereas what the law says is in BIM47705...

The key phrase here is "outside the normal pattern". Travelling to your usual place of work - not your temporary place of work - is not outside the normal pattern. That's also what SJD are saying.

You can claim lunch only if you go somewhere else or if, like me, you are home based and occasionally visit the client site. If you spend five days a week commuting to the client's offices, lunch is not claimable.

HTH

[jamesbrown]

Whereas what the law says is in BIM47705...

The key phrase here is "outside the normal pattern". Travelling to your usual place of work - not your temporary place of work - is not outside the normal pattern. That's also what SJD are saying.

You can claim lunch only if you go somewhere else or if, like me, you are home based and occasionally visit the client site. If you spend five days a week commuting to the client's offices, lunch is not claimable.

HTH

Hmmm, I work from home also, so I haven't looked into this carefully, but my interpretation is different, since it says:

"A deduction must be allowable for the cost of travelling to the place" AND
"the trade is an itinerant trade" OR "the trader does not travel to the place more than occasionally" (and the clause on normal patterns is a sub-clause of the latter)

In other words, assuming you can claim expenses for the cost of travel AND the trade is itinerant, meals should be allowable as part of that travel expense claim.

If you are correct (and you may be), there appears to be conflicting advice:

Contractor Doctor: Can I claim for regular lunch and food expenses?

[malvolio]

Hmmm, I work from home also, so I haven't looked into this carefully, but my interpretation is different, since it says:

"A deduction must be allowable for the cost of travelling to the place" AND
"the trade is an itinerant trade" OR "the trader does not travel to the place more than occasionally" (and the clause on normal patterns is a sub-clause of the latter)

In other words, assuming you can claim expenses for the cost of travel AND the trade is itinerant, meals should be allowable as part of that travel expense claim.

If you are correct (and you may be), there appears to be conflicting advice:

Contractor Doctor: Can I claim for regular lunch and food expenses?

Yes, lots, but this is tax law we're talking about; confusion and lack of clarity are a given. However, IMVHO the guidance quoted by HMRC is pretty clear - if you go there every day, or even almost every day, you can't claim for lunch. I disagree with Crunch's interpretation for that reason.

And FWIW I don't claim for lunch myself; 20% of £3.50 roughly 80 days a year, I really CBA for a mind-blowing £56. Life's too short.

[PerfectStorm]

My accountants (Nixon Williams) pointed to the definition of the "normal pattern" being stuff that happened for more than 24 months. It becomes normal, and thus unclaimable, at 24 months. My place of work, they said, is my house and the temporary site is the client office I sit in every day. Similarly, London travelcard is claimed.

[jamesbrown]

Yes, lots, but this is tax law we're talking about; confusion and lack of clarity are a given. However, IMVHO the guidance quoted by HMRC is pretty clear - if you go there every day, or even almost every day, you can't claim for lunch. I disagree with Crunch's interpretation for that reason.

And FWIW I don't claim for lunch myself; 20% of £3.50 roughly 80 days a year, I really CBA for a mind-blowing £56. Life's too short.

Right, I certainly don't dispute the logic of not bothering with it - I wouldn't bother myself, but I also think it's clear from the guidance that the "normal pattern" is a clarifying sub-clause of "the trader does not travel to the place more than occasionally", i.e. it helps to define what is meant by "more than occasionally". Put differently, one could be involved in a trade that is not itinerant and still claim for meals if "the trader does not travel to the place more than occasionally" and, specifically, "the trader does not have a normal pattern of travel" or, if they do, "the travel concerned is not part of the trader’s normal pattern of travel". I think you have to interpret the "normal pattern of travel" in the limited context in which it's given, as a clarifying sub-clause. Providing it's an itinerant trade and the travel expenses can be claimed (e.g. they are not disallowed by the 24-month rule), the meals can also be claimed. Relevant discussion of itinerant trades here:

BIM37620 - Wholly and exclusively: duality of, or non-trade, purpose: travel costs: to and between sites

Anyway, that's my reading, although I don't suppose it's worth arguing about, given the ambiguity.