Does a gap of 3 months between contracts reset the 24 month rule?

[Integrity]

You might want to also check if the general area is what counts, and not a particular client site. So if you live in Bristol and do 23 months in Central London for Client A, then 12 months in Central London for Client B, that Central London generally stops being a temporary location at the start of the 2nd contract.

The following links support what I wrote earlier!

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM32280.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM32089.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM32080.htm

[rawly]

This is an excellent question.

For the 24 Month rule to apply you need to spend at least 40% of your time engaged on a contract at a particular temporary location.

After 12 Months your contract ended and you then spent 0% time at the site for 3 Months. By the very nature the contract terminated and you had no indication a new one would happen in the future, then in my opinion the Clock was reset for your new 10 month contract.

Some might argue you spent 12+3+10 = 25 Months, out of which it was 100% (12/25) + 0%(3/25) + 100% (10/25) = 48% + 0% + 40%. The average over 25 Months of this is 29.3% - so using Mathematical averages you are still below 40%. That 0% period really pulls the average down doesn't it.

[slackbloke]

This is an excellent question.

For the 24 Month rule to apply you need to spend at least 40% of your time engaged on a contract at a particular temporary location.

After 12 Months your contract ended and you then spent 0% time at the site for 3 Months. By the very nature the contract terminated and you had no indication a new one would happen in the future, then in my opinion the Clock was reset for your new 10 month contract.

Some might argue you spent 12+3+10 = 25 Months, out of which it was 100% (12/25) + 0%(3/25) + 100% (10/25) = 48% + 0% + 40%. The average over 25 Months of this is 29.3% - so using Mathematical averages you are still below 40%. That 0% period really pulls the average down doesn't it.

Ermm, I think your maths is wrong. It is 22 months out of 25. That is 88%

[rawly]

Ermm, I think your maths is wrong. It is 22 months out of 25. That is 88%

Yes, if you add the %'s and not take an 'average'. I thought the HMRC site said 'average' time.

[slackbloke]

Yes, if you add the %'s and not take an 'average'. I thought the MHRC site said 'average' time.

No, 88% is the average.

[rawly]

No, 88% is the average.

Oh yeah. I averaged eveything twice.

Just ignore me, and carry on everyone.

[slackbloke]

Oh yeah. I averaged eveything twice.

Just ignore me, and carry on everyone.

Sadly, I wish you were right. I am in exactly this position, contract for 2 years, terminated, no work for 4 weeks then another new contract at same location doing different thing. No matter how much I read and re-read the info from HMRC, I can't claim :-(.

[TheBigYinJames]

Oh yeah. I averaged eveything twice.
Just ignore me, and carry on everyone.

Is rawly available to work out my tax liability?

[Batcatz]

Sadly, I wish you were right. I am in exactly this position, contract for 2 years, terminated, no work for 4 weeks then another new contract at same location doing different thing. No matter how much I read and re-read the info from HMRC, I can't claim :-(.

I left in Dec and went on holiday, came back to same gig for 2 months in Feb, left in March and back in April.

My accountant said it has to be at least a year gap before you can claim again.

Batcatz

[TheBigYinJames]

My accountant said it has to be at least a year gap before you can claim again.

I think the most heinous part of the recent changes is that if they can deem you to have made no substantive change to your journey then they can treat it as a single site.

So if you live in London and travel to a gig in Leeds, and then later, travel to a gig in Bradford or Wakefield, they could argue that the journey is pretty much identical, even if the places are quite far apart.