Expensing a tablet purchase

[cannon999]

I have bought a few high end tech devices this tax year which are used for legitimate business use (I am a web developer so developing/testing mobile and web apps is part of my work for my client). This can of course be documented through regular mobile app tasks, code commit messages etc.

I bought them through the company but wondering now if I can use them for personal use as well as I have read somewhere that this is possible. So I guess I have two questions.

1. Is this correct - is mixed usage for phones/tablets allowed?
2. Can I cough up the BIK tax on these devices for this year in my self assessment return and use them freely?

[ladymuck]

There are rules around the use of assets made available for personal use.

You may want to have a squizz through this for guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21630

[Lance]

I have bought a few high end tech devices this tax year which are used for legitimate business use (I am a web developer so developing/testing mobile and web apps is part of my work for my client). This can of course be documented through regular mobile app tasks, code commit messages etc.

I bought them through the company but wondering now if I can use them for personal use as well as I have read somewhere that this is possible. So I guess I have two questions.

1. Is this correct - is mixed usage for phones/tablets allowed?
2. Can I cough up the BIK tax on these devices for this year in my self assessment return and use them freely?

I reckon it's fine if it's your job.
I have a bunch of devices for Intune testing. None of them have SIMs and all of them are not my main device. I can't see that any suggestion of minor personal use is a problem.
They should all be classed as computing devices where an element of personal use is expected and allowed.
I don't even think you need evidence. "I develop software for these devices" should be sufficient for anything other than a full on fraud investigation.

IANAL

[cannon999]

I reckon it's fine if it's your job.
I have a bunch of devices for Intune testing. None of them have SIMs and all of them are not my main device. I can't see that any suggestion of minor personal use is a problem.
They should all be classed as computing devices where an element of personal use is expected and allowed.
I don't even think you need evidence. "I develop software for these devices" should be sufficient for anything other than a full on fraud investigation.

IANAL

But that's my question pretty much. What if I want to start using these test devices (at least one of the phones and the tablet) for personal use as the main device? But still also use them for company use for testing and development. Do I just pay the BIK tax in this case?

[ladymuck]

Yes, the link I shared has the calcuation info for the amount to put on your P11D

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

The test is that so long as they were purchased wholly and exclusively for business purposes then any personal use is generally treated as not significant and no there is no BIK.

It sounds like you had a genuine business purpose for buying it so don’t worry about personal use.

The same rule applies to most equipment provided to directors and employees. For the same reason the taxman won’t care if you sometimes use your laptop for personal reasons either.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

There are rules around the use of assets made available for personal use.

You may want to have a squizz through this for guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21630

Those rules are outdated and not relevant if the equipment was bought and provided to the director for the purpose of enabling them to do their job, even if there is some private use of that item.

The actual rules that apply are outlined here:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21611

In particular as it relates to whether or not personal use is “significant”:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21613

[ladymuck]

Those rules are outdated and not relevant if the equipment was bought and provided to the director for the purpose of enabling them to do their job, even if there is some private use of that item.

The actual rules that apply are outlined here:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21611

In particular as it relates to whether or not personal use is “significant”:

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21613

I was following the links that said 'for tax years from 2017 to 18 onwards' which I presumed to be the most recent. If they too are out of date and have been superseded then there ought to be something at the top of the page to say 'for tax year xx follow yy'.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I was following the links that said 'for tax years from 2017 to 18 onwards' which I presumed to be the most recent. If they too are out of date and have been superseded then there ought to be something at the top of the page to say 'for tax year xx follow yy'.

The newer rules you refer to aren’t out of date, they just don’t apply to the scenario outlined by OP if the equipment was purchased for a business reason. In this case they are exempt from the rules you linked to because it’s covered by the exemption under s316.

See the bottom of this page:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-man...anual/eim21880