Flying as a Contractor - tax relief?

[EpsilonPS]

Evening,

Been reading these boards for a while now, been working as a contractor for about 6 months now, all is going well so far - I however have the chance to do some work in the UAE; excuse the daft question but couldnt find the answer anywhere....

If I am going to Dubai for a potential business opportunity, I stress the word potential, can I look to put the cost of the flight through the business? It is a meeting with a company I have dealt with in the UK and may have a role for me out there but certainly not guaranteed? I am a LTD company and wanted to book the flight this evening, but only just thought of the question and clearly my accountant is now closed!

Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

Thanks
Liam

[lithium147]

The search on this site doesn't work very well.

Try searching for this on google:
site:forums.contractoruk.com business flights

[northernladuk]

The search on this site doesn't work very well.

Try searching for this on google:
site:forums.contractoruk.com business flights

Or better still

site:forums.contractoruk.com/accounting-legal/ business flights

and to make sure no one has posted in the wrong forum

site:forums.contractoruk.com/business-contracts/ business flights

Prevents all the guff from General and other social areas getting in to your results.

[Sockpuppet]

Evening,

Been reading these boards for a while now, been working as a contractor for about 6 months now, all is going well so far - I however have the chance to do some work in the UAE; excuse the daft question but couldnt find the answer anywhere....

If I am going to Dubai for a potential business opportunity, I stress the word potential, can I look to put the cost of the flight through the business? It is a meeting with a company I have dealt with in the UK and may have a role for me out there but certainly not guaranteed? I am a LTD company and wanted to book the flight this evening, but only just thought of the question and clearly my accountant is now closed!

Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

Thanks
Liam

If your going out there for a meeting you can expense it.

If your going out there for a meeting with a weeks holiday tagged on the end then you can't.

[northernladuk]

And you have to be very honest with yourself here. When HMIT goes through your books he will wonder why you are putting over £1k+ expenses for 1 day meeting in Dubai that came to nothing. Looks very suss. It would have to be a very strong potential to warrant this for business only IMO.

[EpsilonPS]

And you have to be very honest with yourself here. When HMIT goes through your books he will wonder why you are putting over £1k+ expenses for 1 day meeting in Dubai that came to nothing. Looks very suss. It would have to be a very strong potential to warrant this for business only IMO.

Thanks, I understand, problem I face is that I have a meeting scheduled on the Thursday and another on the Monday, I was going to suggest I stay over as it makes sense. If I pay for the accommodation personally as I would not be using it for business purposes over the weekend would that make any difference? Essentially just have the business pay for an economy round trip ticket?

Cheers all

[lithium147]

Thanks, I understand, problem I face is that I have a meeting scheduled on the Thursday and another on the Monday, I was going to suggest I stay over as it makes sense. If I pay for the accommodation personally as I would not be using it for business purposes over the weekend would that make any difference? Essentially just have the business pay for an economy round trip ticket?

Cheers all

How about if you just claimed hotel expense for monday and thursday, and the rest is personal expense (inc flight)?

[Wanderer]

Thanks, I understand, problem I face is that I have a meeting scheduled on the Thursday and another on the Monday, I was going to suggest I stay over as it makes sense. If I pay for the accommodation personally as I would not be using it for business purposes over the weekend would that make any difference? Essentially just have the business pay for an economy round trip ticket?

If it's wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the trade then you claim the whole lot, including the days when you aren't doing any business because these expenses are merely incidental to the main business purpose of the trip. If you happen to be travelling on business and you stay away over the weekend, this doesn't automatically mean it has a duality of purpose especially if it's impractical for you to return to the UK.

Rather than doing a search on this forum, you should do a search on HMRC's website because they are the ones who will decide if it's allowable or not. I found this reference which agrees with what Sockpuppet says - if there is ANY duality of purpose (eg, a holiday) then you claim NOTHING. At least, that's my reading of HMRC's guidance in BIM37600.

[NotAllThere]

Your company pays for your flight and your hotel bills + ancilliary (allowable) expenses. The purpose of the trip is entirely business related. Staying over rather than having two sets of flights makes financial sense.

So long as you stick to this story, and do not do anything (like claiming for a trip into the desert during the off-day) that implies any dual purpose, you'll most likely be fine.

[speling bee]

Thanks, I understand, problem I face is that I have a meeting scheduled on the Thursday and another on the Monday, I was going to suggest I stay over as it makes sense. If I pay for the accommodation personally as I would not be using it for business purposes over the weekend would that make any difference? Essentially just have the business pay for an economy round trip ticket?

Cheers all

My non-professional (IANAA) advice is as always.

What would a proper business do?
Do that, because you are a proper business.