Claiming clothing expenses

[baronne]

Is it possible to claim clothing as an expense for work? I wear a suit (which I fkn hate) because I gotsta look sharp u know what I'm saying. So surely if I have to buy a suit for work and use the suit ONLY for work, can this be considered a legitimate business expense?

- baronne

[The Wikir Man]

Is it possible to claim clothing as an expense for work? I wear a suit (which I fkn hate) because I gotsta look sharp u know what I'm saying. So surely if I have to buy a suit for work and use the suit ONLY for work, can this be considered a legitimate business expense?

- baronne

No - because you could use it for other purposes.

It's been discussed ad nauseum on here in the past - there are some clothes that you can claim, and some that you can't. For example, if you require a high visibility jacket for work, then you can claim it. If you are a lawyer and need to wear a gown and wig for court work, you still cannot claim it (there is precedent for this).

Have a quick search and see what CUK members have suggested in the past.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Wikir Man is quite right - just because you only wear the suit at work doesn't mean that you couldn't wear it somewhere else and hence there is a duality of purpose

[Darren@UptonAccountants]

Suit

You could get it branded in your company name, then is always being used for business purposes!

[Olly]

You could get it branded in your company name, then is always being used for business purposes!

Certain about that? Thought I read that being branded didn't make a difference.

[Clare@InTouch]

It depends on each case really:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM32475.htm

[ChimpMaster]

You could get it branded in your company name, then is always being used for business purposes!

Excellent, I'm going to get some of those sticky back tags with "ChimpMaster Ltd" to use on my suits!

[Darren@UptonAccountants]

Branding

Sticky tags not likely to work!! Embroidered and need to be obvious, not stuck on the inside or under armpit, so would need to be genuine branding.....just like the type of branding this lot do http://www.keylogo.co.uk/corporate-clothing.htm

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Sticky tags not likely to work!! Embroidered and need to be obvious, not stuck on the inside or under armpit, so would need to be genuine branding.....just like the type of branding this lot do http://www.keylogo.co.uk/corporate-clothing.htm

But surely this would only apply to genuine workwear Darren - I can't see HMR&C letting a £1000 Paul Smith suit go through just because you've had Upton Accountants embroidered on it - whatever logo is used there is still a duality of purpose

[Darren@UptonAccountants]

Suits

Yes Lisa that's correct, designer wear not good, HMRC will kick that out, something a bit more ordinary. Or get some trousers and shirts/t-shirts made up for work and embroidered up. Can still be used for golfing afterwards!