Subsistence poll!

[Goya]

There are a couple of threads currently about subsistence (I guess one or two more would crop up if searched for!).

I'm vaguely interested in how many people claim this regularly. I can't be bothered with the additional paperwork for limited gain, so have never bothered.

Quote borrowed from a Nixon Williams post:
"The flat rate subsistence allowance is the £5/day (£10/day overseas) can be claimed, if away from home on business."

[To BI or not to BI?]

I do (£15 per day). But I am having a rethink!

[DaveB]

I don't claim subsistence per se but I do claim for lunch on client sites since it not normally an expense I would incur if I wasn't on site.

[Billy Pilgrim]

I'll always claim £5 per day if staying overnight...

Otherwise will only expense evening meal with receipt..and occasionally a sandwich or whatever from a service station / train if travelling home late.

Don't bother with breakfast / lunches etc...

Its basically the way I've always done it when employed by consultancies

[Cactus]

I wish someone would actually clear this up.

I've had mixed advice.... When I was with an umbrella they said that I could claim £5 per day to cover "incidentals" providing I was out of the house (including travelling time) for longer than 10.5hours.

So I've taken that into my limited company setup as well. If I do an extra long day i.e. 1 and a bit hours drive to clients site + full working day and drive back I'll claim the £5.

The reason for this is that I always try and grab myself an half decent meal from the canteen or something which don't issue receipts.

Other contractors i've spoken to in the past just claim the full £5 per day regardless, others don't bother.

My accountant said that I could claim the £5 per day but didn't mention anything about stopping over.

Anyone be able to clear this one up please?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

You are entitled to claim £5 per day (or £10 overseas) for incidental expenses if you stay away from home overnight. You can only claim for lunches if you are on detached duty - this means that you are away from your normal place of work or travelling between sites. You cannot claim for lunches if you are working at the same site every day. The IR's view is that an expense is a cost that you are only incurring because of the contract - you would have to eat lunch regardless of whether or not you were contracting therefore it is not an additional cost and therefore not an expense. Hope this helps clarify

[Cactus]

After reading through a couple of other threads on this board I think I understand it a lot better now!

I won't be claiming Subsistence from now on, unless I stay away. I've also just removed any other entries where I've claimed it in the last 5 months.

Read this thread (POST#26 onwards) and I think it covers it off.
http://forums.contractoruk.com/threadnav8376-3-10.html

[Torran]

. You can only claim for lunches if you are on detached duty - this means that you are away from your normal place of work or travelling between sites. You cannot claim for lunches if you are working at the same site every day. The IR's view is that an expense is a cost that you are only incurring because of the contract - you would have to eat lunch regardless of whether or not you were contracting therefore it is not an additional cost and therefore not an expense. Hope this helps clarify

this is news to me

[boredsenseless]

this is news to me

Seemed reasonable to me