Train Ticket Receipts

[AgentJohnson]

Been lurking for a bit, but thought I'd register and come out of the woodwork.

Having disposed of the car, the train will be my ride for my next gig.

Reading all the guides (including HMRC's) the advice is "keep a receipt". Generally, receipts from ticket offices have "goods" as the description on the credit card receipt and from ticket machines "001 Ticket £ price". Are these vague descriptions adequate for expense purposes?

As anyone who takes the train regularly knows retaining the original ticket(s) is not always straightforward e.g. renewing a season ticket you are meant to surrender the previous one, gatelines often swallow dailies and the staff are reluctant to let you keep them etc.

[cojak]

Then take a photo of your ticket during the train journey and log it into your expense app.

Xpense Tracker works for me.

[Clare@InTouch]

For smaller items I'd not worry too much as long as you have some kind of proof, like the credit card statements.

Great idea from Cojak. I've heard good things about Receipt Bank too, which I assume is a similar thing.

[Anonimouse]

Ticket office will issue a receipt on purchase of ticket, it usually looks like a ticket.

[craig1]

Ticket office will issue a receipt on purchase of ticket, it usually looks like a ticket.

This.

When you buy a train ticket ask for a receipt, they're not automatically handed out, you do need to ask. You'll get both a "Debit/Credit Card Sales Voucher" that's simply your card receipt and another marked "Not valid for travel" that's your official receipt and contains your travel information, cost etc. You use the latter for your expenses.

If you buy from a kiosk thingy, make sure you hit the "receipt" button.

Edit: the important difference is that the official receipt doesn't contain how you paid, that's not anyone's business if you're paying for it personally. For example, if you paid the entire thing in delay-repay vouchers then that's not shown, it just shows the full cash value of the ticket for you to reclaim.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Ask for a separate receipt when purchasing otherwise failing that, photo/scan of ticket + bank/credit card statement should be more that sufficient. You don't need to keep original copies of receipts, scans are acceptable.

[AgentJohnson]

Wow, what a helpful bunch you are thanks for the advice.

On the topic of Rail Travel Vouchers for delayed journeys, it seems this lot Passenger's Charter | South West Trains only do it for dailies & weekly season tickets. Monthly or longer have their own Byzantine compensation system based around renewing your (photographed for expenses) piece of card.

[Wanderer]

For smaller items I'd not worry too much as long as you have some kind of proof, like the credit card statements.

Yep, I'd just pay for the ticket on my company card and then the bank statement is the proof of purchase. Photographing the ticket is a good idea too.

[Scruff]

Inasfar as receipts go, a receipt is ALWAYS offered, either by the machine or the operator.

The reason why you need the piece of paper which is marked either Receipt or Invoice, is that it is the proof of purchase and contains the VAT number of the vendor.

A photo of, or the tickets itself, is not sufficient proof of purchase, since it is just the authority to travel.

[Alias]

Just to offer an alternative way to track receipts, I use CamScanner on my phone to take a pic of the receipt (it converts it to pdf and uploads to dropbox/evernote etc. automatically).

Works great and free.