Subsitence Claims

[ASB]

Even if scale rates are applied there still has to be evidence of expenditure - if the OP is taking a packed lunch to work and cooking and eating breakfast and dinner at his rented accommodation he is not incurring any cost that he wouldn't be incurring if he was at home

Section 240/1 ITEPA ? Be interesting what your internal expert may think of the following argument:-

1. Buy the food etc as part of the travel. i.e. not the weekly shop. Local supermarket to the place of work or accommodation; theory being this demonstrates the expenditure is related to the travel etc. (Obvious counter argument "it's just your shopping")
2. Claim £5 x 4 arguing that the above demonstrates expenditure and this brings 241 (3) into scope.

The act is non specific on what the expenses are for. I am not saying that it would be successful in an investigation, but it is not an unreasonable argument to put forward.

There are plenty of threads on accounting web etc, and articles which argue that acquisition of groceries and preparation of them as a meal should be claimable.

And plenty that say it isn't.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Section 240/1 ITEPA ? Be interesting what your internal expert may think of the following argument:-

1. Buy the food etc as part of the travel. i.e. not the weekly shop. Local supermarket to the place of work or accommodation; theory being this demonstrates the expenditure is related to the travel etc. (Obvious counter argument "it's just your shopping")
2. Claim £5 x 4 arguing that the above demonstrates expenditure and this brings 241 (3) into scope.

The act is non specific on what the expenses are for. I am not saying that it would be successful in an investigation, but it is not an unreasonable argument to put forward.

There are plenty of threads on accounting web etc, and articles which argue that acquisition of groceries and preparation of them as a meal should be claimable.

And plenty that say it isn't.

This would apply to, for instance, a travelling salesman whose job requires him to be on the road all the time - it would be acceptable for him to pop into Tesco for an egg and cress sarnie and then expense it

[northernladuk]

This would apply to, for instance, a travelling salesman whose job requires him to be on the road all the time - it would be acceptable for him to pop into Tesco for an egg and cress sarnie and then expense it

Do you claim all that tea you drink in a day Lisa?

[pr1]

Yup. I need to live somewhere to be available for work therefore it is wholly and exclusively for the purpose of business.

but you have a problem with people paying their wives for secretarial work?

[MrMarkyMark]

Do you claim all that tea you drink in a day Lisa?

Actually, contractors should always expense their tea, it can add up to quite a lot, over the year.

but you have a problem with people paying their wives for secretarial work?

Looks like you have caught him out totally there, you clever boy

[WordIsBond]

I don't put toothpaste through. Although I'd argue it's wholly and exclusive because no one in their right mind would speak to a client with smelly breath i do work from home some days so get some personal benefit.

Your accountant told me you tried but he disallowed it because after meeting you he didn't think you ever used it.

[northernladuk]

Your accountant told me you tried but he disallowed it because after meeting you he didn't think you ever used it.

Lol... Very good.

[TykeMerc]

Thanks ASB - very nice article. I think the overall answer is probably, pay yourself the dividends to cover it. The idea of repaying yourself through expenses, is actually more a tax saving vehicle rather than making sure you're not out of pocket. Technically speaking, it's all your money, but where it get's taken from between client payment and pay/dividend only really affects overall tax you pay. I'm just looking to make sure my overall take home pay is what I planned it to be. OK - decision made - add it to dividends, forget expensing it, avoid HMRC like the plague!!!!!

Separate note - a whinge. TykeMerc - you're bang out of order. I asked for genuine advice from this forum as a noob to contracting, not your condescending and quite frankly bullish diatribe.

Really?? I was under the obviously mistaken impression I was conversing with other members of this forum, not just blindly ignoring their contributions to bolster my own uninformed ideas. I'd quite like to see your evidence that I was doing as you suggested!!!!

Read it again. " I do not have access to my facilities at home, nor the contents of my family's weekly shop.". I have a home. I do not permanently live in flats etc around the country for business. I return home : "I stay in the area of my contract Mon-Thur" - OK, I didn't specifically say I returned home, but I'm pretty sure you can safely infer that from my original post. You decided to take a small part of a sentence and place it out of context - for what - so you could try and make me seem simple ... arrogant? Please enlighten me to the reason you decided to write that rather than provide me with guidance as I originally requested or seek clarification as I said people should.

I don't believe I ever stated or implied I was providing arguments to bolster, argue or prove my case. Pretty sure I was just asking people's opinions so I could pursue the best course, using the information of other, more experienced contractors.

I'm normally pretty humble - I'll take people's opinions and views with good grace, especially when they have more experience than me. Just because a point of view is blunt, doesn't make it offensive. I cite NorthenLadUK - about as blunt as you can get, but still providing me with reading material, general observation etc. But quite frankly, you're replies were offensive and absolutely unconstructive. I'll end my rant with this - a favourite of my Dad - If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it all. Feel free to apply that to any of my future posts.

To everyone else who took the time to be helpful - I thank you ever so much and apologise for my outburst. I may be new to contracting, but I'm not some squib schoolboy who is going to take sh*t from bullies.

On the reading comprehension front, had you bothered to read my first post in this thread you would have spotted that I routinely work away part or all of the week (varies) and travel home on weekends, just the same as the scenario you posted, I pointed out that you ignoring the contents of a post clearly stating that your idea was bad appears that you only wanted positive responses to back up your great idea.

If you don't want to be treated as if you've not bothered to read the responses then try reading them first, if you feel that you're being bullied because someone points out your idea is weak then I'd seriously wonder about your grip on reality.

FACT---- YOU CAN'T EXPENSE GROCERIES AND EXPECT HMRC TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. Buying groceries to prepare at your rented digs is no different than buying them at home. If you don't like that then make your own decision to put the expense through the business, but if HMRC catch you at it then you've yourself to blame as you can't claim ignorance.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

I see where you're coming from Lisa. I guess I was having trouble wrapping my head around the fact whether I cook it or a restaurant cooks it, it's food that is being had in place of my 'dinner' at home. The fact that the food wasn't coming out of my 'standard' weekly food shopping and that the entirety of the food bill was to provide sustenance whilst away working. Coming from recently being a permie and obviously just being able to claim for this stuff, I have a slightly warped view on it. Totally different kettle of fish when you're private ltd.

The way you have to think of it is 'am I spending more money than I would be if I were at home?' - in this case you are spending the same amount of money you're just doing it in a different place You then have to ask yourself 'Am I spending this money purely as a result of the contract and for no other reason' if the answer is 'yes' then you may be able to claim the cost as an expense but it's always worth checking HMRC guidance or asking your accountant

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Do you claim all that tea you drink in a day Lisa?

No, only for the butler who brings it to me