24 month rule - different ends of London

[Old Greg]

It's not quite as simple as that...remember that the £690 would come out of Old Gregg's personal income!

Lets say he takes salary and dividends each year up to the higher rate tax threshold and takes home £38,074.60 per year (excluding the reimbursement of his expenses). If he wants to achieve the same take home after having paid his travelling expenses he will incur higher rate tax of £2,760 (690 * 12 / 0.75 * 0.25).

Are you really cut out to be an accountant?

Exactly. It's worse than that, because I currently draw dividend to the point at which child benefit starts tapering off.

[TheFaQQer]

Are you really cut out to be an accountant?

[SueEllen]

Because her work has only moved 10 tube station, the expense is not allowable regardless of whether she now needs to take a completely different route and her ticket price has changed. But they don't say that, so I still can't help thinking that the route and ticket price is relevant.

They can't use a number of tube stations as a rule as some tube stations are about 190m from each others while others are around 2 miles from each other.

At the moment your argument depends on:
1. Your ticket price is different,
2. Your train journey goes a different route and uses a different main terminus,
3. You are clearly in a different part of London shown by the postcodes, and it would be difficult to walk between the two end points.

The arguments against:
1. You are going to the same larger geographical location
2. The train journey takes approximately the same time
3. It's 6 miles difference which is a small proportion of your larger journey.

[Old Greg]

They can't use a number of tube stations as a rule as some tube stations are about 190m from each others while others are around 2 miles from each other.

At the moment your argument depends on:
1. Your ticket price is different,
2. Your train journey goes a different route and uses a different main terminus,
3. You are clearly in a different part of London shown by the postcodes, and it would be difficult to walk between the two end points.

The arguments against:
1. You are going to the same larger geographical location
2. The train journey takes approximately the same time
3. It's 6 miles difference which is a small proportion of your larger journey.

I'll miss this if I go permie.

[mudskipper]

I'll miss this if I go permie.

Why not phone the taxman and ask them? Or get your accountant to do so without mentioning you by name?

[rd409]

This might not be the same for you, but I am just trying to think of possible scenario.

Candidate Home: Grenville Drive, Birmingham.
Client A: Somewhere near London Waterloo.
Client B: Somewhere near London Stratford.

Case 1: Drive from Home to Birmingham New Street, park the car, take the train to London Euston, change for London Underground Northern line to Waterloo.

Case 2: Walk to Smethwick Galton bridge station, take train to London Marylebone changing at Birmingham Snow Hill, and then take London Underground Hammersmith City Line from Baker Street to London Stratford.

Distance between destinations is approx 5.9 miles, but still in case 1, you could have taken the same route as Case 2, and only take a different line i.e. London Underground Bakerloo line to Waterloo.

We can all keep on guessing this, but it might be a good idea if you could provide us with some set of data as to approximate location of the journey start and end points. In my example above, you would have a real tough time proving them different. I rest my case.

[Old Greg]

This might not be the same for you, but I am just trying to think of possible scenario.

Candidate Home: Grenville Drive, Birmingham.
Client A: Somewhere near London Waterloo.
Client B: Somewhere near London Stratford.

Case 1: Drive from Home to Birmingham New Street, park the car, take the train to London Euston, change for London Underground Northern line to Waterloo.

Case 2: Walk to Smethwick Galton bridge station, take train to London Marylebone changing at Birmingham Snow Hill, and then take London Underground Hammersmith City Line from Baker Street to London Stratford.

Distance between destinations is approx 5.9 miles, but still in case 1, you could have taken the same route as Case 2, and only take a different line i.e. London Underground Bakerloo line to Waterloo.

We can all keep on guessing this, but it might be a good idea if you could provide us with some set of data as to approximate location of the journey start and end points. In my example above, you would have a real tough time proving them different. I rest my case.

The thing with your example is that you're clearly changing routes as an artifice to reset the clock dodge tax. The Baker St to Stratford journey takes you through Euston Sq. The Euston to Waterloo journey could as easily be taken from Marylebone to Waterloo.

I have no doubt in my mind that the change in journey is genuine and demonstrably genuine, and forgive me if I prefer not to say whereabouts I live. The question in my mind is whether the change in journey is relevant.

As mudskipper says in her oh-so-sensible-female way, I could just ask, and if I reach the point where I have decided not to claim, I will ask just to see what the view is. Ta, both.

[SueEllen]

This might not be the same for you, but I am just trying to think of possible scenario.

Candidate Home: Grenville Drive, Birmingham.
Client A: Somewhere near London Waterloo.
Client B: Somewhere near London Stratford.

Case 1: Drive from Home to Birmingham New Street, park the car, take the train to London Euston, change for London Underground Northern line to Waterloo.

Case 2: Walk to Smethwick Galton bridge station, take train to London Marylebone changing at Birmingham Snow Hill, and then take London Underground Hammersmith City Line from Baker Street to London Stratford.

Distance between destinations is approx 5.9 miles, but still in case 1, you could have taken the same route as Case 2, and only take a different line i.e. London Underground Bakerloo line to Waterloo.

We can all keep on guessing this, but it might be a good idea if you could provide us with some set of data as to approximate location of the journey start and end points. In my example above, you would have a real tough time proving them different. I rest my case.

If Case 2 was the cheapest route then why didn't you do that to get to client in Case 1?

Would it be the fact that if you did that to get to the client in Case 1 it would take much longer? If so then you could argue the journey was significantly different due to the time taken.

[northernladuk]

Surely a large majority of minor location changes in London require a significant change the way you get to work, permie or contractor, and as permies would suffer it without question so it won't reset the clock. I think we are getting too bogged down in the way we get to work and I am think that is more and more a red herring. It's inherent to working in London so will make it less of a factor than elsewhere? As we progress I can't help thinking that the distance is becoming the major factor where as I didn't before. Interesting thread.

[SueEllen]

Surely a large majority of minor location changes in London require a significant change the way you get to work, permie or contractor, and as permies would suffer it without question so it won't reset the clock. I think we are getting too bogged down in the way we get to work and I am think that is more and more a red herring. It's inherent to working in London so will make it less of a factor than elsewhere? As we progress I can't help thinking that the distance is becoming the major factor where as I didn't before. Interesting thread.

Actually I keep meeting more and more permies who have moved due to finding a job in a different part of London.

The ones who don't move find a new job within 18 months .....

People are happy to commute for an hour but when it goes past this if they are renting they move and if they not they find a new job.