First time contracting, looking for good accountants

[ContractingBrit]

Santander is fine. I've been with them thick end of 8 years now without problem.

It seems quite a few people are gravitating to Tide and Starling now though due to them being digital rather than old skool banking.

To find the threads where they are discussed use the Google method for searching the forums. Type the following in to Google but change the 'tide' for whatever keyword you want to search for.

Tide site:forums.contractoruk.com

You should be using the search before posting questions like this as well as there have been many many banking recommendation requests so it's all on here already. Very useful tool.

Great thanks mate. I will use this tool in the future.

[ContractingBrit]

VAT query

Hi
my company is VAT registered and am invoicing expenses to my client.

Having read the VAT guide on the right, I am no fully convinced my query is answered.

I have to claim £100 on a train ticket. This is classed as 0% VAT.

I purchased it using my own money (not my company's) and added that as an out of pocket expense in free agent.

Now when I invoice this to my client, am I correct in adding 20% VAT on top of claiming the £100 back even though when I purchased them , train tickets are at 0% VAT? This is what my accountant has told me but I want to double check why am I charging them VAT when there was no VAT that I was charged when buying the train tickets.

thanks

[northernladuk]

Hi
my company is VAT registered and am invoicing expenses to my client.

Having read the VAT guide on the right, I am no fully convinced my query is answered.

I have to claim £100 on a train ticket. This is classed as 0% VAT.

I purchased it using my own money (not my company's) and added that as an out of pocket expense in free agent.

Now when I invoice this to my client, am I correct in adding 20% VAT on top of claiming the £100 back even though when I purchased them , train tickets are at 0% VAT? This is what my accountant has told me but I want to double check why am I charging them VAT when there was no VAT that I was charged when buying the train tickets.

thanks

https://www.contractoruk.com/forums/...llowances.html

https://www.contractoruk.com/forums/...-expenses.html

Your accountant can also help you with queries like this of course.

[Maslins]

Now when I invoice this to my client, am I correct in adding 20% VAT on top of claiming the £100 back even though when I purchased them , train tickets are at 0% VAT? This is what my accountant has told me but I want to double check why am I charging them VAT when there was no VAT that I was charged when buying the train tickets.

You should trust your accountant! Why pay for one if you're going to double check the answers they give with a bunch of randoms on an internet forum?!

The basic logic is that train ticket is for you, not your client, and your company does not sell train tickets. Your company sells your time/skills, which are VATable. The fact the client has agreed to pay you a bit more for your services to compensate for some costs you've incurred isn't relevant from the perspective of VAT on your sales.

[ContractingBrit]

aah okay, great thanks.
I do trust my accountant but, being a nervious newbie, I just wanted to double check.

cheers

[pr1]

You should trust your accountant! Why pay for one if you're going to double check the answers they give with a bunch of randoms on an internet forum?!

Hmm, in this case his accountant is right but there's plenty of examples on here where accountants have given questionable advice! I think it's always worth cross checking stuff with google or a forum for peace of mind