What happens if expenses are refused??

[joey122]

Whose responsibility is it to make sure expenses are allowed?

I went for a meal the other night with colleagues and we were talking about work - The bill ended up being £200 and I paid.

Can I expense this?

If I did expense this and HMRC queried it would I get fined?

[trsisko]

sorry to hijack your post, what selection do i make when selecting type of expense in the Quay accounting spreadsheet for food, is it sunderies?

[malvolio]

Whose responsibility is it to make sure expenses are allowed?

I went for a meal the other night with colleagues and we were talking about work - The bill ended up being £200 and I paid.

Can I expense this?

If I did expense this and HMRC queried it would I get fined?

1. Yours. You're the tax payer...

2. Of course. Just don't reclaim the VAT

3. No. You'd be charged the tax plus interest and possibly penalties. You wouldn't be fined. You may also incur a more detailed investigation in case you'd done it before, of course.

HTH

[centurian]

3. No. You'd be charged the tax plus interest and possibly penalties. You wouldn't be fined. You may also incur a more detailed investigation in case you'd done it before, of course.

Although let's face it, the penalty (usually 100% of the amount) amounts to a fine - just not a criminal fine.

[joey122]

Although let's face it, the penalty (usually 100% of the amount) amounts to a fine - just not a criminal fine.

So if you claimed 10k for taxis a year amd they questioned these what would you need to do to prove it??

You have kept receipts and they were all paid in cash.

£25 a day each way in taxi fares - Is that excessive on a business earning 100K?

And if they did not agree are you saying they wouyld fine you 10K???

[deckster]

So if you claimed 10k for taxis a year amd they questioned these what would you need to do to prove it??

You have kept receipts and they were all paid in cash.

£25 a day each way in taxi fares - Is that excessive on a business earning 100K?

And if they did not agree are you saying they wouyld fine you 10K???

Well there are several questions there.

1) If the journeys are reasonable, and wholly and necessarily incurred in the course of your business, and you can prove this - receipts are I would say quite sufficient for this - then there is no reason they would be questioned.

2) Frankly yes, 10% of a company's turnover on taxis is excessive

3) If the expenses were genuinely incurred, but disallowed (eg because of the 24 month rule) then you would have to pay the tax due, plus interest, plus potentially a penalty of up to 100% of the tax due.

4) If the expenses were not genuinely incurred, and you just filled in a load of blank taxi receipts without actually making the journeys, then that is criminal fraud which is an entirely different prospect.

Note the use of 'you' here is just meant to indicate the 3rd person, and not in any way implying that any of the above applies to the OP