Tablets

[northernladuk]

Might as well buy a camera so you can take photos for your corporate brochure

I struggle to see how a tablet can help your business ?

We have had that one a few times as well. One bought a camera and wanted to take pictures of the client offices for his web page so wanted to put it through the business.

The reasons people give themselves to justify this are just beyond comprehension. People need to think what would HMRC think, not justify it to themselves.

[LatteLiberal]

We have had that one a few times as well. One bought a camera and wanted to take pictures of the client offices for his web page so wanted to put it through the business.

The reasons people give themselves to justify this are just beyond comprehension. People need to think what would HMRC think, not justify it to themselves.

A web site developer who does some design might need a camera to take nice photos for his websites, there you go.

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

I hear a lot of crackers:

I know of a contractor who wanted to claim for decking in his back garden because he was a rope access tech and he needed somewhere to prepare his ropes.

And another who wanted to claim £1700 for a PC screen which turned out to be a 3DTV.

[VectraMan]

I have a genuine need to test on an iPhad, so I could buy one through the company. But of course you only save the 20%, and then over 4 years, and if you want to sell it, even to yourself later on then that also has to go through the company. It may not be worth the extra complication. If it's just yours, and you let the company borrow it, then you can do what you like with it.

I think if you're a software developer, or IT Consultant, then having having access to a computer is a no-brainer and it's rather ridiculous to worry about it. I can't imagine plumbers worry about whether they can claim the cost of a pipe wrench, even though they might occasionally use it on their own pipes.

[Gaz_M]

A web site developer who does some design might need a camera to take nice photos for his websites, there you go.

I am currently writing a brand new travel website & the free photos available online are pretty shocking. I am therefore looking at camera's for this very reason but I'd be a fool to only use it for that purpose.

My need for a tablet is all around web development, buying old websites, buying domain names etc where a portable device would make life so much easier especially as I currently spend 10 hours a week on a train & five nights in a hotel.
However, it is not a necessity and would not be used 100% for work.

Anyway, I've had enough replies to my original question to know that there are contractor's out there who would & would not be able to justify such a purchase. I guess it's all about presonal choice & I shall go back to the hotel tonight & think about it over 6 pints of stella.........btw, can you put 6 pints of stella through the company?

[Notascooby]

*Yawn*

Buy the bloody thing through the company - I agree with Latte / russel / whoever.

All this moral crap is tiresome, just don't take the piss, if you think that won't wash with HMRC then you're running the risk, if investigated, of having to pay some tax back.

Virtually all cycle to work schemes provide bikes that aren't used for the majority of time for commuting etc, people have billed for time where they aren't working, using CUK at work is against client internet usuage policy etc.

[GillsMan]

I struggle to see how a tablet can help your business ?

Surely in the same way that having a mobile can help your business? By improving connectivity. Obviously, I'm in the minority in that I have been asked to develop e-learning for the iPad (even then, I could have used an emulator rather than an iPad in theory), but I still find there are other things that help, e.g. reviewing documents etc. Of course I could use a laptop, but a tablet is much more convenient.

On a side note, the Tesco app for the iPad is amazeballs.

[Nixon Williams]

For the price of a tablet device, I doubt HMRC are going to be that interested to be honest. So if you do put it through and HMRC deem to disallow the expenditure, the charge back from them is not going to cripple you.

The tax benefit is 20% of the cost, so say it cost £500, the saving will be £100.

Alan

[northernladuk]

All this moral crap is tiresome, just don't take the piss, if you think that won't wash with HMRC then you're running the risk, if investigated, of having to pay some tax back.

It isn't tiresome, it is giving the OP both sides of the coin so he can make his decision. Alan is probably right but if you do it with this and then something else and something else the risk grows as does the potential penalty. Armed with both sides plus the fact he is only saving 20% so it isn't free from the company (which seems to be a common misconcemption) he can make his own decision on this and anything else that sits in that grey divide.

[Notascooby]

It isn't tiresome, it is giving the OP both sides of the coin so he can make his decision. Alan is probably right but if you do it with this and then something else and something else the risk grows as does the potential penalty. Armed with both sides plus the fact he is only saving 20% so it isn't free from the company (which seems to be a common misconcemption) he can make his own decision on this and anything else that sits in that grey divide.

My saving is 40% - how people live under the threshold is beyond me but that's another discussion point.

The risk is that you are chosen to be investigated and that something doesn't stack up and you're hit with a tax bill. With everything rolled up, there's no way to tell what has and hasn't been claimed without investigation. So unless you're putting through £10,000 per year in computer equipment then its unlikely there'll be any alarms, even then I'd be surprised.

Like travel and accomodation - people worry about claming a £500 flight - but who's to tell if that was £500 in taxi fares or mileage unless its investigated?

If you live mon-fri in hotels then your out-goings could be £10,000 plus but how can you tell if that's two business flights to Vegas without investigating?

What I'm saying is don't sweat the small items, just don't take the piss. I know someone who runs training for Oracle and expesned a 40" TV - which he's used 3 times for traininig and spends the rest of its time in his bedroom. Is it push the boundaries - of course it is - could it justify it - yes he could.