Limited company and Subsitance

[xoggoth]

I have had accountants tell me to "claim everything" and they will sometimes advance the most dubious schemes. Why I keep saying that just having an accountant does not avoid potentially large tax bills. Then there are the things they don't tell you about unless you ask and the potential for error in the data you give them. Always a good idea to be familiar with the rules yourself and to spend a few hours checking your own accounts figures.

[dejongj]

'Normally an employee claiming a lunch meal allowance would be expected to be away from his/her base for a period of more than five hours and covering the normal lunch time period of 12pm to 2pm. To claim an evening meal allowance an employee would normally be expected to be away from base for more than 10 hours and unable to return to base or home before 7pm and as a result of the late return is required to have an evening meal.'

Not from an MSC but fron the 'NHS terms and conditions
of service handbook'. Given that these subsistence allowances are not taxable, these should in theory apply to contractors away from their base (i.e. home office). However, I don't intend to test this theory and get into a row with HMRC so I'm not claiming this.

Very similar rules apply to HMRC staff, so one way of looking at it would be why it would be different for another company....

Me, I claim the difference between the cost of lunch at my office compared to the cost of a lunch at a clients place of business. A few slices of bread at my office with toppings and cofee from my own machine is a heck of a lot less expense than £2.90 for a single sandwich and £1.05 per cup of coffee....My argument would be that I would not occur those kind of excessive costs at my normal place of business, so the difference is not a benefit in kind....Whether that is correct and acceptable I do not know, hasn't been questioned so far....And by taking the difference I think it is quite reasonable...And still less than HMRC employees can claim!

Sure it is 'pennies', but add all those 'pennies' and you are looking at quite a few pounds....

[tim123]

I have had accountants tell me to "claim everything" and they will sometimes advance the most dubious schemes.

The thing about claiming 'everything' is that you are slightly better off do so even if it does get rejected and becomes a BIK.

But the risk of doing this is that you put your head above the parapet and by doing so, are more liklely to be selected for an audit.

I know which route I prefer.

tim

[ASB]

Given that these subsistence allowances are not taxable

Whether they are taxable or not is simply your inference. What an employer will allow somebody to claim, and what the IR will allow against tax are two different things.

In the case of the NHS there are are a number of possibilities. It could be assessed to the employess as a BIK, it could be removed from the CT type calculation and class 1A NI handed over, the NHS could play the BIK on behalf of its employees, or some other arrangement.

Equally it could be that trhe revenue will allow it.

[Old Greg]

Whether they are taxable or not is simply your inference. What an employer will allow somebody to claim, and what the IR will allow against tax are two different things.

In the case of the NHS there are are a number of possibilities. It could be assessed to the employess as a BIK, it could be removed from the CT type calculation and class 1A NI handed over, the NHS could play the BIK on behalf of its employees, or some other arrangement.

Equally it could be that trhe revenue will allow it.

In the case of the NHS it is not a BIK payable by staff, and I believe the NHS does not have a separate arrangement to pay on behalf of employees. I have always assumed (rightly or wrongly) that a public sector 'terms and conditions' affecting 1,000,000+ staff falls into what is allowable by HMRC.

[RockyBalboa]

Very similar rules apply to HMRC staff, so one way of looking at it would be why it would be different for another company....

Me, I claim the difference between the cost of lunch at my office compared to the cost of a lunch at a clients place of business. A few slices of bread at my office with toppings and cofee from my own machine is a heck of a lot less expense than £2.90 for a single sandwich and £1.05 per cup of coffee....My argument would be that I would not occur those kind of excessive costs at my normal place of business, so the difference is not a benefit in kind....Whether that is correct and acceptable I do not know, hasn't been questioned so far....And by taking the difference I think it is quite reasonable...And still less than HMRC employees can claim!

Sure it is 'pennies', but add all those 'pennies' and you are looking at quite a few pounds....

Seems like a good idea. Has anyone else done this?

[ASB]

Seems like a good idea. Has anyone else done this?

I suggest you search on HMRC under "duality of purpose" the claim fails.

[KathyWoolfe]

Home Office??

OK, I can see where staying in a hotel can be claimed because you're staying away from your normal place of residence, but when you start talking about claiming for rent/broadband etc because you are nominally using it as an office for your limited company is surely taking it a bit far?

[Ardesco]

Never claim rent.

If you do it can be deemed that a percentage of your property is actually owned by your LTD Co (If you have a £1000/month mortgage and charge your LTD Co £500/month rent they will deem property is 50% owned by Ltd Co) and then if your LTD Co gets into trouble you can loose your house.

You can get yourself into all sorts of complicated problems by going down this route. Only ever rent out a room in your house if you own the property outright!!!

Really not worth the risk for the few pennies it saves.

[KathyWoolfe]

Never claim rent.

I tend to agree - I just asked because I was so surprised by the person on here who said he DID claim rent.