Reply to: Expenses

[malvolio]

1. In order for these locations to count as temporary for travel and subsistence purposes you would need to have been travelling to them for less than 24 months and the time that you spend at that client site would need to represent less than 40% of your working week.

2. Agreed with Louisa.

3. If the IPSE membership is in your name then it would not be allowable and may generate a taxable benefit in kind but if the subscription is in the company's name then the benefit in kind may not apply.

4. Of course, you will need to be aware of the changes to the FRS coming in April.

Bit late to the party but IPSE membership is for the company and is a fully allowable expense. You can't, however, offset it against CT for reasons far too obscure to explain here.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Here's a quick answer for you:

1. Ipse

Yes, get the invoice in the company name, but you'll need to add this back when calculating your corporation tax, its not tax deductible for YourCo for reasons outlined already.

2. PI, EL, PL insurance

These are fine.

3. Sickness and life cover

No, not generally. There is a type of life assurance plan called a "Relevant Life" plan which can be put through the books, but normal life assurance and critical illness cover cannot without incurring a BIK charge on you personally.

4. Mobile phone contract (including the phone itself)

Yes, as long as contract is in company name. Company can also buy handset for you to use with a personal SIM. If you use a personal SIM you can only claim for business calls.

5. Home broadband, which I will use about 20% for business purposes

Nope. Needs to be in company name and if you already have home broadband it would need to be an additional connection - HMRC are unlikely to be convinced that a single broadband connection serving your home is wholly and exclusively for business purposes regardless of whose name it is in.

6. Telephone line (can consider a voip line as well-better for paying per call with sipgate)

Pretty much the same as above. An extra line, or a VOIP line in the company name used for business separate to your home phone would be allowable.

7. A very light laptop so I can travel between offices without lugging the heavy as **** laptop that I was given

If you need a laptop do to your job, its allowable.

8. A bluetooth headset that i can use for all my calls on skype.

Seems a bit of a stretch that it would be wholly and exclusively for business purposes to me but you probably wouldn't have any problems putting it through, especially if supplied used with a company supplied phone.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Louisa is right, Patrick is wrong.

The expense is not deductible for corporation tax because IPSE is not a registered professional body with HMRC. To become a registered professional body with HRMC, the organisation needs to register their membership database with HMRC - and I'm glad that IPSE aren't going to tell HMRC who their members are

As I said..."reasons".

[alitech]

No it is not, it is a global oil and gas company

[stek]

Public sector client?

[alitech]

Just as an update, I have had my contract reviewed by an IR35 specialist who have advised me to get the contract amended so it is outside the IR35.

I thank Northenlady for her advice, which I am still going through.

[alitech]

I thought I'd give the 'nice and helpful approach' a go. I only got 2 likes, felt decidedly unfulfilled and the OP still decided to do no research and ask stupid questions so it's back to the 'old' me....

I am indeed stupid and I revel in it sometimes, lazy is not an excuse, time is.

Thanks for your patience

[RonBW]

But as Louisa says, even if no BIK implications, its not deductible for corporation tax, because reasons.

Louisa is right, Patrick is wrong.

The expense is not deductible for corporation tax because IPSE is not a registered professional body with HMRC. To become a registered professional body with HRMC, the organisation needs to register their membership database with HMRC - and I'm glad that IPSE aren't going to tell HMRC who their members are

[northernladuk]

Thank you so much for your informed advice on these questions.

I am still starting out and I have read a number of blogs and pages and this forum too.

The mind boggles as there is so much conflicting information pretty much everywhere. If its not conflicting, its most likely outdated in which case, the hunt continues.

I have a number of expenses that I want to claim through the business and I will definitely speak to my lawyer about it all, but I just wanted to get impartial views and advices from veterans in the industry anyways.

I am able to ingest a huge amount of information, but its useless if its not correct or outdated.

Can someone please point me to a nice blog, article or forum post which is up to date, relevant and provides good information on the types of expenses that I can claim back?

Since writing the post, I have a number of questions that have come about about other expenses.

1. Ipse
2. PI, EL, PL insurance
3. Sickness and life cover
4. Mobile phone contract (including the phone itself)
5. Home broadband, which I will use about 20% for business purposes
6. Telephone line (can consider a voip line as well-better for paying per call with sipgate)
7. A very light laptop so I can travel between offices without lugging the heavy as **** laptop that I was given
8. A bluetooth headset that i can use for all my calls on skype


I am sure these can be claimed by one way or another, I will pose the question to my accountant regardless, however would like to get as many views as possible on these things.

Thank you.

You need to read this.....

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...ml#post2374087

[northernladuk]

+1 but who are you and what have you done with NLUK?

I thought I'd give the 'nice and helpful approach' a go. I only got 2 likes, felt decidedly unfulfilled and the OP still decided to do no research and ask stupid questions so it's back to the 'old' me....

[LondonManc]

If these is the level you are at you are going to have a raft of further questions you will need answers for.

Your first step is to read the Newbie Guides found on the right -->
In the other links you will find plenty of information about expenses so have a look at those first
Your accountant should have given you some information on expenses as well so have a look at that.

Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and speak to your accountant. You are paying them for their services which includes advice so gather your questions and then have a chat with them. The problem with accounting by internet forum is you won't get the full picture. You get some quick yes and no's but that is often not the whole picture. For example Louisa says 'most likely yes' to travel but it's highly dependant on the 24 month rule.. What's that you ask.. It's in the links to the right and is complicated. Your accountant can clarify for you fairly quickly.

Another useful tool you need to use is the search function. You are absolutely right, those questions are done to death and not everyone appreciates putting their time in to help someone that's not done a bit of research first. The best method to search the forums is described in the link below
http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

So if you want to know about expensing IPSE you would use
expense ipse site:forums.contractoruk.com
and get a couple of thousand interesting threads
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ex...ntractoruk.com

Some areas you might want to spend some time on besides expenses are IR35 and maybe the 24 month rule.

Once you've been through the basics and got a grasp then I am sure we'd be happy to help with some of the more in depth questions you might have.

+1 but who are you and what have you done with NLUK?

[MrMarkyMark]

Thank you so much for your informed advice on these questions.

I am still starting out and I have read a number of blogs and pages and this forum too.

The mind boggles as there is so much conflicting information pretty much everywhere. If its not conflicting, its most likely outdated in which case, the hunt continues.

I have a number of expenses that I want to claim through the business and I will definitely speak to my lawyer about it all, but I just wanted to get impartial views and advices from veterans in the industry anyways.

I am able to ingest a huge amount of information, but its useless if its not correct or outdated.

Can someone please point me to a nice blog, article or forum post which is up to date, relevant and provides good information on the types of expenses that I can claim back?

Since writing the post, I have a number of questions that have come about about other expenses.

1. Ipse
2. PI, EL, PL insurance
3. Sickness and life cover
4. Mobile phone contract (including the phone itself)
5. Home broadband, which I will use about 20% for business purposes
6. Telephone line (can consider a voip line as well-better for paying per call with sipgate)
7. A very light laptop so I can travel between offices without lugging the heavy as **** laptop that I was given
8. A bluetooth headset that i can use for all my calls on skype


I am sure these can be claimed by one way or another, I will pose the question to my accountant regardless, however would like to get as many views as possible on these things.

Thank you.

A good accountant will be, or should be, far more up to date and all encompassing knowledge wise than most on here.

[alitech]

Thank you so much for your informed advice on these questions.

I am still starting out and I have read a number of blogs and pages and this forum too.

The mind boggles as there is so much conflicting information pretty much everywhere. If its not conflicting, its most likely outdated in which case, the hunt continues.

I have a number of expenses that I want to claim through the business and I will definitely speak to my lawyer about it all, but I just wanted to get impartial views and advices from veterans in the industry anyways.

I am able to ingest a huge amount of information, but its useless if its not correct or outdated.

Can someone please point me to a nice blog, article or forum post which is up to date, relevant and provides good information on the types of expenses that I can claim back?

Since writing the post, I have a number of questions that have come about about other expenses.

1. Ipse
2. PI, EL, PL insurance
3. Sickness and life cover
4. Mobile phone contract (including the phone itself)
5. Home broadband, which I will use about 20% for business purposes
6. Telephone line (can consider a voip line as well-better for paying per call with sipgate)
7. A very light laptop so I can travel between offices without lugging the heavy as **** laptop that I was given
8. A bluetooth headset that i can use for all my calls on skype


I am sure these can be claimed by one way or another, I will pose the question to my accountant regardless, however would like to get as many views as possible on these things.

Thank you.

[chopper]

It might just be the way you've worded it but the 40% thing isn't right - you've made it sound like you have to spend less than 40% of your time on site for it to be considered temporary. The rule is: if you spend less than 40% of your time on-site then then it counts as a temporary workplace and there is no time limit on how long you can claim travel/subsistence. If you spend more than 40% of your time on site, then you have to consider the 24 month rule and there is a time limit on how long you can claim.

Two days a week at site A, two days a week at site B, one day a week WFH... How far apart site A and site B are will factor in.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[kaiser78]

Hi there everyone

Apologies if this question has been asked to death, I imagine so anyway but I wanted to get a view on a few things if thats ok.

I have joined a company as an IT contractor and it now a month in. I have an accountant, a registered ltd company and also VAT registered and bank account, all within a few weeks. I am new, so have noob questions. Sorry

1. I am working from 2 different locations in London. Can I claim travel and subsistence as expenses with my LTD company?
2. Is there any sort of insurance that I can expense? Life insurance, illness cover?
3. Can I expense IPSE membership?
4. I plan to buy a bluetooth headset and a laptop for my work as I need to carry around very heavy equipment otherwise, can these be claimed as expenses?

What other expenses do you claim and what should I be considering?


Thanks in advance.

Start making your accountant work for their fees...all qs point to them...