Employee (and Umbrella) claming expenses on Self Assessment

[northernladuk]

SWMBO has a new job with the NHS travelling to schools and working with childrens mental health and I'm facing the prospect of going inside so want to explore expenses through Self Assessment. NHS have sorted much of the kit, travelling etc expenses wise but Mrs NLUK has still bought quite a bit of stuff for herself, dictaphone, camera set up, stationary, aids to help children settle while she works with them etc all out of her own pocket. My gig appears to provide most of what I need but I'll be staying away a few nights plus general stuff.

So what's the craic with claiming stuff on SA? Anyone got good tips on what to claim?

Printer Ink/Stationary - She prints crap loads of stuff for work so comfortable with business use.
Laptop bag above the simple one that comes with laptop for all her gear
Tech gadgets - Use for work only and not provided so assume this counts
Occassional extra mileage not expenses through work
Professional subscriptions (if on HMRC's list)
Home office use
Anything else I can't think of at the moment that is purely for work

And for me with umbrella, no expenses unless billed to client so for SA...
Contract is hybrid with one day mandated on site - Can I claim anything above i.e. mileage, overnights and subsistence? Being asked to come in for more days that the contract isn't commuting anymore surely?
Visits to different sites will be expected and waiting for an answer on expenses for those but if it's not allowed I assume I can claim these.
Tech gadgets - e.g. those expanding screens you can hook up to a laptop, wireless mouse and keyboard etc etc.
Home office use
Anything else?

Anyone got any thoughts on the above? Do people claim from SA or don't bother? Is this a grey area and one we have a right to maximise or is it so tight it's not worth doing generally? Any other items I might have forgotten about?

[Lance]

stationery

I don't think there is much you can claim.
Working from home. Yes.
Mileage if they pay you below the 45p / 25p pre mile allowance.
Professional subscriptions.
That's about it as far as I'm aware.

You can't claim any computers, gadgets, stationery. Not unless you are self-employed. It's all personal use even if you use them to help an employer.

[eek]

No expenses for anything that is general commuting - so going to the clients main office (and hotel stays there) will be coming from your own pocket.

if you are via an umbrella there are very few things you can claim for because HMRC watch expense claims VERY closely.

[northernladuk]

No expenses for anything that is general commuting - so going to the clients main office (and hotel stays there) will be coming from your own pocket.

I am assuming that if the contract states one office and one day mandated, using their other office a couple of miles away for extra days won't work as commuting rules generally talk about geographic area, not address similar to the 24 month rules.

if you are via an umbrella there are very few things you can claim for because HMRC watch expense claims VERY closely.

I assumed this to be the case but could be some wiggle room for the odd thing. The fact it's not heavily documented kind of speaks volumes. If there were standard allowables I guess we'd all know. That said, I am aware next to no one claims their professional subscriptions, so still worth digging to see if there is anything else people either don't know or just don't bother with.

Still going to investigate the dictaphone and recording equipment as it's purely for her work use. There is also conflicting advice on the ink/stationary use if her job use is way in excess of personal use which it will be so need to look in to that a bit further. Maybe stick it in and wait to get told off. It won't be me getting told off anyway

The difference between the 45/25p per mile is interesting. I'm sure they are paying her less and she does quite a lot of travel to different schools so will look at that as well.

Will all probably end up saving nothing but a few tens of pounds of tax so a lot of effort for little return but I've got the time so will keep digging.

[hobnob]

One other thing you can put on the SATR is any Gift Aid donations that you've made. You'll only be charged the basic rate of tax on them, i.e. 20% rather than a higher bracket. So, if you're in the 40% or 45% tax bracket, that will reduce your tax bill a bit.