IR35 and working at one location

[copper]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and would appreciate some help please. Decided to become a contractor after being made redundant 2 years ago.

I got a 3-month contract in Feb 04 via an agency (which has been extended 6 times and I expect to be extended on several more occasions) and am using an Umbrella company, so as I understand it, IR35 doesn't come into it and "I am a PAYE employee with the benefits of being able to reduce tax" as they explained it to me.

Although the contract says "client location:xxxxxx", I very rarely work at that particular office (it is an admin office and is where the people who run the project are based - I may work there once every 2 weeks)

I deliver training courses for this client (one of the UK's police forces) - they have 8 training locations all within about 10 miles of each other and can be at any one of these locations.

I currently claim daily travel expenses but on my expense form I put "home to XXXX" where XXXX is the name of the city, rather than a specific location within the city - I live 40 miles from the city. I also and meal allowance

My question is what would be my position after 2 years in relation to claiming mileage and meal allowance against tax.

Thanks

Mike

[Bradley]

Re:Expenses

Hi

I'm new to this forum and would appreciate some help please. Decided to become a contractor after being made redundant 2 years ago.

I got a 3-month contract in Feb 04 via an agency (which has been extended 6 times and I expect to be extended on several more occasions) and am using an Umbrella company, so as I understand it, IR35 doesn't come into it and "I am a PAYE employee with the benefits of being able to reduce tax" as they explained it to me.

Although the contract says "client location:xxxxxx", I very rarely work at that particular office (it is an admin office and is where the people who run the project are based - I may work there once every 2 weeks)

I deliver training courses for this client (one of the UK's police forces) - they have 8 training locations all within about 10 miles of each other and can be at any one of these locations.

I currently claim daily travel expenses but on my expense form I put "home to XXXX" where XXXX is the name of the city, rather than a specific location within the city - I live 40 miles from the city. I also and meal allowance

My question is what would be my position after 2 years in relation to claiming mileage and meal allowance against tax.

Thanks

Mike

I don't think you can claim anything now as your employment has all been at the one location. The two year thing really doesn't matter.

[Taxman]

24 month rule for travel and subsistence

As an accountant specialising in Contractors, I am regularly asked questions about the 24 month rule and the lack of Inland Revenue guidance never ceases to annoy me. Too much is down to an individual's interpretation.

Many of my clients are in the City of London and I am often asked what length of time they need to be away from that area, after finishing one contract, for them to return to the same area under a new contract and be eligible again for their travel costs etc (ie for the 24-month period to be rest).

I received a superb answer from the Inland Revenue today...

I stated the facts as above and further explained that the client will not renew his existing contract because he would immediately breach the 24-month rule. I also explained that he was likely to return to the Square Mile in the future but not necessarily with the same end-client.

Their answer? As long as it is a separate contract, the clock is reset regardless of the length of the break OR the location of the new contract. I was even informed specifically that the client could move to the end-client immediately next door and that would be allowable.

Absolute nonsense as many of you will instantly have recognised!

The question was explicitly answered in relation to the Square Mile and everyone knows the Square Mile is treated as a single site. The Inland Revenue themselves gave that guidance in the 490 publication.

What chance has the layman got when the Inland Revenue doesn't even know it's own rules?

Other subscribers opinions on these questions would be appreciated:

1) What is a suitable period for a break between contracts in the same area for the 2 contracts to be treated distinctly for the 24-month rule?

2) Square Mile aside, what is a suitable distance between sites for 2 workplaces to be treated entirely distinctly and not as one site?

3) Is it ever possible to call the Revenue and get the right answer?

Sorry, that last question was stupid. Not to mention that it's not just the Revenue any more, it's Revenue and Customs, so now there is even more for them to get wrong and with many less staff to do it...