Expenses. Apparently I can't Claim Any

[simes]

Get a new accountant.

Claim the miles from Permanent Home / Business Operations place to the temporary lodgings.

Also claim the daily miles from lodging to temporary place of work / contract.

Also claim the rent for lodging but get a receipt.

Also claim a daily fixed 'away' expense of, I think, £5 per day for incidental costs such as calls home to the wife, the odd paper. This is for when you are living away from home / business place.

[Little'Old Me]

Rent?

Hi All,

I live in Central London and have just started a good gig in the Berkshire area which requires me to be on site all the time except when I have to travel around for meetings etc.

I lodge in my Dad's spare room most of the week and would like to pay him rent for this.

However, I am told by my accountants that:

• I cannot claim any car miles for the travel to the client site (from London or my Dad's place) and
• I cannot claim any rent / accommodation

This is apparently because my company is registered to my home in Central London, but I am spending > 80% of my time on the client site, which means I treat the client site as my base.

But with the 3rd Party consultancies on site, they also spend 100% of their time onsite and yet can claim expenses from their companies.

Does this sound right to you guys? Can I claim any expenses at all?

P

I think others have answered the question about travel! But I have not seen the rent/lodgings part yet!

If you are still paying for your accommodation in Central London, and you pay extra to live elsewhere, you can claim it. If you stayed in B&B or a hotel, you'd be able to claim it, so why should it be any different if you pay rent to family. Your father will have to declare the amount you pay him. I presume it will be under the rent a room amount, and he is not renting to anyone else. So its becomes a paper excise for him to keep HMRC happy.

[slackbloke]

I have skimmed through Tax Guide 490, and it says all kinds of things which I am unsure relate to me or not.

OK, so if everyone thinks I should get a new accountant, can you at least then explain what the expense rules are, as surely many of us are in the position where we have to work only at the client site under terms of the contract, and we travel into that client site daily either from home or from a type of purposely rented accommodation that is closer to the client site.

It's really quite simple isn't it, and surely many of us do this daily; so what expense rules do you follow and can you reference these rules back to the Tax Guide 490 document (or any other HMRC doc)?

P

It is not about travelling from home, it is about travelling from your permanent workplace (which may be your home) to a temporary workplace. Not quite sure what question you are asking; the rules are those in 490. Assuming your contract is not for two years or more (or you are not at a point when you know the work will last more than two years), and your journey is substantially different to your previous one (on your last contract), then you can claim expenses.
Based on the info you have given your accountant is wrong. Ask him to try and provide the HMRC documentation to prove what he is saying (obviously he won't be able to).

[Bob Jones]

Visit http://www.contractoralliance.co.uk/...ctor_expenses/

I need more facts - ring me next week on 01244 310547 and I'll give you 15 minutes free of charge ... it shouldn't take any longer - I work alone so if you get the answerphone leave your number and I'll ring you ..

Regards

Bob

[krytonsheep]

490 has a good example for contractors (page 15)...

Erica is employed as a computer consultant. She works full-time at a site for 18 months developing a new computer system. The work is then extended for another 18 months at the same workplace, for the roll-out of the new computer system.

The roll-out is subject to a separate contract between the employer and client.
As long as Erica did not expect to be working on the site for more than
24 months she is entitled to relief for the cost of travelling from home to the site.

Once her employer enters into a new contract Erica expects to be working on the site for more than 24 months so from that point she is not entitled to relief for her journey from home to the site.

[Peter Loew]

I have skimmed through Tax Guide 490, and it says all kinds of things which I am unsure relate to me or not.

OK, so if everyone thinks I should get a new accountant, can you at least then explain what the expense rules are, as surely many of us are in the position where we have to work only at the client site under terms of the contract, and we travel into that client site daily either from home or from a type of purposely rented accommodation that is closer to the client site.

It's really quite simple isn't it, and surely many of us do this daily; so what expense rules do you follow and can you reference these rules back to the Tax Guide 490 document (or any other HMRC doc)?

P

[BolshieBastard]

Get a new accountant.

^^^^ WHS!

[NotAllThere]

I thought that, but the last time I said it, everyone thought I was being rude

tim

Oh it is rude. But on this occassion, possibly entirely accurate. If your accountant really does mean what you think he means, then he has less clue than... me!

[TykeMerc]

Get a new accountant.

WHS.

Your accountant has either got totally the wrong end of the stick or is completely clueless.

[tim123]

Get a new accountant.

I thought that, but the last time I said it, everyone thought I was being rude

tim

[swamp]

Get a new accountant.

[thunderlizard]

It depends how long you expect to be working on that site in Berkshire. If it's more than 2 years, then as you're spending most of your time there, your expenses will be taxable. If you expect to be there less than 2 years, they aren't.

[Nick44]

Cant claim any commuting mileage at all now. Mileage needs to be business miles.
Business mileage is the number of miles you have travelled while actually doing your work or spent travelling to a temporary workplace.
NOTE: You cannot get tax relief for travel between home and a permanent workplace!

key phrases there are "temporary workplace" and "permanent workplace"

[krytonsheep]

As long as the contract is for less than 2 years, you should be able to claim mileage (have a look at tax guide 490). Not sure about accommodation though.

[Peter Loew]

Hi All,

I live in Central London and have just started a good gig in the Berkshire area which requires me to be on site all the time except when I have to travel around for meetings etc.

I lodge in my Dad's spare room most of the week and would like to pay him rent for this.

However, I am told by my accountants that:

• I cannot claim any car miles for the travel to the client site (from London or my Dad's place) and
• I cannot claim any rent / accommodation

This is apparently because my company is registered to my home in Central London, but I am spending > 80% of my time on the client site, which means I treat the client site as my base.

But with the 3rd Party consultancies on site, they also spend 100% of their time onsite and yet can claim expenses from their companies.

Does this sound right to you guys? Can I claim any expenses at all?

P