Travel expenses - accountant seems useless

[GhostofTarbera]

If you're with an umbrella, are engaged on multiple assignments (so each client site can qualify as a temporary workplace) and you are not caught by the SDC rule, then you can "claim" expenses. With a brolly, all that really means is that your net pay after umbrella fees gets carved up into "expenses" (not taxable if they are legitimate tax-deductible expenses) and "salary" (subject to PAYE as usual).

So if your day rate is £500, the brolly charges £20/day admin fees and you claim £30 in travel expenses, you will receive a reimbursement of £30 tax free for your expenses (taken out of the £480 left after brolly fees) and the remaining £450 will be income subject to PAYE.

No you won’t


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[Paralytic]

No you won’t

I was waiting for someone else to come along and chime in here too, as I seem to be the only person who is skeptical of this.

But I was hoping it would be someone who doesn't regularly post rubbish

Any chance one of our accountants chime in here?

I still don't see how travel expenses can be reclaimed pre-tax (so as to save Income tax/NI) in an Umbrella scenario.

[Amanensia]

I don't think there's any dispute that travel is technically reclaimable if it's to a genuine temporary workspace. However it would be very rare for this to apply in an Umbrella scenario and I wouldn't be surprised if many Umbrellas just operate as though it's not possible. They'll be right almost all the time.

[WordIsBond]

Pretty sure TCP is right. Can't be under SDC with a brolly and claim. But if you aren't, you may be able to claim expenses for traveling to temporary workplaces.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

As has been mentioned already, travel expenses are not claimable through an umbrella unless you can show you aren’t caught by the SDC rule. Nobody is disputing that.

Claiming expenses through an umbrella company