Business Trips

[zayf]

Probably Wrong question to ask but if i am going for training of exams like Cisco CCIE in other country, Can I use my ltd company's money to get myself business class flights and fund the whole trip ?

Is it difficult to claim this kind of money from your company.

[Clare@InTouch]

As long as the training itself is wholly and exclusively for company purposes, then yes.

Claiming it is easy - you're the boss after all! Defending it in the event of an HMRC enquiry is another matter. It should be OK as long as you pass the wholly & exclusively test, and you have receipts to back up everything spent.

It's going to be more difficult if there are flights, a course lasting 2 days and a holiday then lasting another 10. In those cases, make a partial claim based on the marginal increase that the business element has cost your company.

[northernladuk]

Am gonna stick my neck out and suggest a scenario, possibly wrongly but interested none the less.

If the OP flies back to his home town in India to do this course and stays with family that would mix a home visit with training and so grey the whole travel issue?

Am struggling to think why you would fly abroad to do a course unless there is a personl desire to do so which would affect the situation. Not giving the whole picture isn't getting you the best answer.

[zayf]

Am gonna stick my neck out and suggest a scenario, possibly wrongly but interested none the less.

If the OP flies back to his home town in India to do this course and stays with family that would mix a home visit with training and so grey the whole travel issue?

Am struggling to think why you would fly abroad to do a course unless there is a personl desire to do so which would affect the situation. Not giving the whole picture isn't getting you the best answer.

Its hardly a course, its actually an exam that only few places in the world host. Closest to us is Belgium, but i wanna go dubai for it because dubai been tax free, exam costs less. in belgium its around $1800 but in dubai its $1500 i guess.

[northernladuk]

Its hardly a course, its actually an exam that only few places in the world host. Closest to us is Belgium, but i wanna go dubai for it because dubai been tax free, exam costs less. in belgium its around $1800 but in dubai its $1500 i guess.

And the cost of a first class ticket to Dubai versus Belgium?

[zayf]

one more question i wanted to ask and please pardon my Ignorance, by looking for accountants i have come across something called w ww.breezewealth.com, Is that even legal and safe ?

[Contreras]

Its hardly a course, its actually an exam ...

IIRC the HMRC guidance says something like "training is OK as company expense, but if it results in a personal qualification for the individual then it's a BiK".

Sorry no linky, but should be on the HMRC site somewhere (if I remember/understood it correctly).

[Greg@CapitalCity]

And the cost of a first class ticket to Dubai versus Belgium?

Its a fair point, but going for the lowest cost doesn't necessarily mean a higher cost option is less tax deductible. If the travel is undertaken for a legitimate business purpose, then its allowable. You might think going to Dubai MUST mean there is an element of personal gratification in visiting a tax haven where its currently sunny and 38deg, but I think the HMRC would have a hard time proving a trip to Dubai is anything but business related based on what the OP has said so far. Maybe a bit of a waste of company money (in some peoples eyes) but so the ABN AMRO purchase by RBS.

To be fair, I am still a bit undecided on this without more info.

[northernladuk]

Its a fair point, but going for the lowest cost doesn't necessarily mean a higher cost option is less tax deductible. If the travel is undertaken for a legitimate business purpose, then its allowable. You might think going to Dubai MUST mean there is an element of personal gratification in visiting a tax haven where its currently sunny and 38deg, but I think the HMRC would have a hard time proving a trip to Dubai is anything but business related based on what the OP has said so far. Maybe a bit of a waste of company money (in some peoples eyes) but so the ABN AMRO purchase by RBS.

To be fair, I am still a bit undecided on this without more info.

Indeed they might but there is more chance the OP may stay the extra few days rather than get out of Brussels as fast as possible which further complicates the whole thing, on top of the exam point. I read a personal interest in going to Dubai in the and trying to get the OP to come clean to make the point.

[Greg@CapitalCity]

one more question i wanted to ask and please pardon my Ignorance, by looking for accountants i have come across something called w ww.breezewealth.com. Is that even legal and safe ?

That question is impossible to answer, but I can't help but feel these types of schemes will slowly disappear with the renewed focus on anti-avoidance provisions like http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/avoidance/tax...ce-schemes.pdf