Short term gig staying with family

[Sturridge]

So I've just signed a 4 month contract. Live in Wiltshire. Will be working in Manchester and because family live so close to the new gig going to stay there instead of forking out on hotel costs.

Question is can I give them anything per night (pretty sure I remember something about this) say £25 for food and accommodation contributions that can be claimed as expenses from the company.

Obviously the total paid to them in this tax year won't go above the rent a room threshold as don't want to incur tax issues for them.

Cheers

[TheFaQQer]

Yes. Get them to give you a receipt, and ideally pay directly from the business account.

As long as it's not wildly out of kilter from what you would normally expect to pay (and at that price, it's not!) then there's nothing to worry about. They should declare it under the rent a room scheme to avoid any additional tax on it.

[tractor]

...

WTFS +

From HMRC...

How it works

The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than the threshold. This means you don’t need to do anything.

You must complete a tax return if you earn more than the threshold.

You can then opt into the scheme and claim your tax-free allowance. You do this on your tax return.

You can choose not to opt into the scheme and instead record your income and expenses on the property pages of your tax return.

Chapter and verse here...

[Sturridge]

Brilliant guys. Did question the rent a room joining scheme as thought that only had to if above the threshold. Thanks for confirming

S

[stek]

Question is can I give them anything per night (pretty sure I remember something about this) say £25 for food and accommodation contributions that can be claimed as expenses from the company.

I'd suggest some drugs and gun would be more appropriate....

[SueEllen]

They got rid of the straight giving your friends' and family money thing a good few years back so now you have to get them to charge you and deal with you on a commercial basis. Some people can't be bothered.

[Sturridge]

They got rid of the straight giving your friends' and family money thing a good few years back so now you have to get them to charge you and deal with you on a commercial basis. Some people can't be bothered.

When you say commercial. Will them providing me with a receipt out of a receipt book suffice? Obviously they will never go above the rent a room threshold so wouldn't need to register into the scheme?

[TheFaQQer]

When you say commercial. Will them providing me with a receipt out of a receipt book suffice? Obviously they will never go above the rent a room threshold so wouldn't need to register into the scheme?

The receipt will be fine - but you can't get them to charge you £1000 a night, for example. It needs to be a reasonable rate that you'd pay someone else, otherwise it might arouse suspicion.

I thought that they had to declare the income on a self assessment (if they do one) anyway.

[Sturridge]

Brill. The way I was going to work it was pay cash to the family member weekly (like board), they receipt me for the 4 nights (£100), then I make an expenses claim to company for a receipted £100 + my £5 unreceipted incidentals for each night.

I'm a little concerned by SueEllens post when she states 'commercial'. Should I be asking the family member for an invoice to my ltd company and paying them directly from the company acct?

[tractor]

...

Brill. The way I was going to work it was pay cash to the family member weekly (like board), they receipt me for the 4 nights (£100), then I make an expenses claim to company for a receipted £100 + my £5 unreceipted incidentals for each night.

I'm a little concerned by SueEllens post when she states 'commercial'. Should I be asking the family member for an invoice to my ltd company and paying them directly from the company acct?

Get a receipt book from WHSmith and use that. They can file em all each year to support their SA return and you can file them in your accounts and expense it. There will be no VAT of course unless they are a VAT reg B & B