company sponsership for PG Diploma

[SueEllen]

Lets be clear, your current employment is your own company, not your client. So if your own company (ie you) decides to branch into flower arranging (as a silly example) then a course on such would be in line with the guidance.

Then you need to change the main activity of your company to flower arranging before you sign up for and pay for the course.

[Spacecadet]

Then you need to change the main activity of your company to flower arranging before you sign up for and pay for the course.

As long as a good business case can be made for the training I don't see what the problem is.
The OP wants to get into a specific sector and see's the training as a method for doing that.

To look at it another way, he could be an Oracle specialist but has noticed that Microsoft have been making significant inroads in to the market. Will he have to get a contract using Microsoft products before he can pay for any Microsoft training out of his company funds?

[Wanderer]

Then you need to change the main activity of your company to flower arranging before you sign up for and pay for the course.

A slightly silly example as escapeUK admits, and I'm sure that if by some happy co-incidence the employee's daughter just happened to be getting married then it would raise an eyebrow but honestly, the the other courses mentioned - why on earth would you do them other than to further your career? What duality of purpose do they have? It's not for HMRC to make value judgements on if the company director has made good business decisions or not, so long as it isn't a blatant piss take.

I mean it's not like someone who has never piloted an aircraft before taking flying lessons for a private pilot's license with a view to "getting a commercial pilot's license". An inspector would rightly ask if this had some recreational purpose too and perhaps ask to see the business justification. I know tax is a terribly grey issue so I understand that there are going to be different interpretations of the rules but I don't see anyone citing guidance from HMRC saying what's claimable and what's not...

Would any of the accountants here like to put their head above the parapet and comment on this one (before I make a complete idiot of myself)

[northernladuk]

But taking a course on banking is NOT furthering his profession as an IT contractor. I still think the OP has got this all wrong. He keeps going on aabout wanting to do this course because he wants 'finacial experience'. Doing a course on your clients business is NOT 'financial experience' particularly if it is the agent that has stipulated it. They are looking for someone that has hands on experience delivering theiir speciality in a financial environment. Completely different. Arguments aside i think the OP is very misguided on his approach' expectations and outcome of this venture, particularly when it costs considerable time and expense.

I did 6 months at Radbroke and am constantly getting called about finance roles. Its that easy.

[northernladuk]

Take a different example.. if I wanted to get into delivering BI in to a pharmaceutical would i take a chemistry diploma? Would it help? Would it chuff.

[Spacecadet]

Take a different example.. if I wanted to get into delivering BI in to a pharmaceutical would i take a chemistry diploma? Would it help? Would it chuff.

Of course it wouldn't, a pharmacy diploma on the other hand....

[SueEllen]

Of course it wouldn't, a pharmacy diploma on the other hand....

Actually for IT work you don't even need that.

Though there is nothing stopping you from taking a pharmacy diploma (or related areas of study) once you are on-site and you realise the work requires you to have more detailed subject knowledge.

However then it would be up to you to argue with an HMRC inspector why your small business should pay for the course and not you personally.

[Hex]

There's a guide to training expenses here: IT contractor guide to training expenses :: Contractor UK

[Hex]

There's another good link here which clarifies quite a lot: <snip>

Some quotes:

“The cash spent investing in a new skill that puts a contractor in a position to seek new work cannot be claimed."

“When the skill is learnt, and the contractor is invoicing clients for applying that skill, further improvements to that skill are allowable, but HMRC won’t let you claim for the expense of getting you there.”