Reply to: Expenses without receipts - how far back can I claim?

[northernladuk]

Not sure if this is tongue in cheek NLUK but

have you done a search? Have you asked your accountant? ;-)

But, no, UP TO £5 but you've got to have a receipt....

EDIT : Ah I thought as much!

Keep up sonny jim...

[psychocandy]

Can I ask a question here... This £5 allowance.... Can you only claim what you spend or can you put the whole rate in even if you bought a £1.99 sarnie?

Not sure if this is tongue in cheek NLUK but

have you done a search? Have you asked your accountant? ;-)

But, no, UP TO £5 but you've got to have a receipt....

EDIT : Ah I thought as much!

[Datalink]

Exactly why I am very weary of it all and I shall be looking into it.

[Wanderer]

I'm going to ask my accountant.

I also have dispensation from the client in which I can claim for being at the customer site, ie I can claim extra for hotels or food. I'm not sure how it all works, think I'll meet my accountant.

Definitely speak to your accountant and let us know what they think.

I'd guess that you are probably best keeping receipts for everything and only claim the actual expenditure not the amount of the client's dispensation because dispensation is for employees of the client's company and you want to stay far far away from that sort of stuff if you are an IR35 dodger running your own LTD company...

[Datalink]

I'm going to ask my accountant.

I also have dispensation from the client in which I can claim for being at the customer site, ie I can claim extra for hotels or food. I'm not sure how it all works, think I'll meet my accountant.

[malvolio]

Doh, well that backfired.... I am well aware of the rules. Just trying to make people that are banding around the £5 rate around to consider the fact they maybe spending less than £5 so making the benefits look even less attractive than they already are...

If they're in a world where 20% of £5 is important to them, it's not worth arguing about...

[northernladuk]

Doh, well that backfired.... I am well aware of the rules. Just trying to make people that are banding around the £5 rate around to consider the fact they maybe spending less than £5 so making the benefits look even less attractive than they already are...

[Contreras]

Can I ask a question here... This £5 allowance.... Can you only claim what you spend or can you put the whole rate in even if you bought a £1.99 sarnie?

NLUK seriously, has your account been hacked?

Either you have dispensation to use the HMRC scale rates or you don't.

If you do, then it's "up to" (that's no more than) the scale rate, even if the meal cost less than that. There must have been an expense incurred.

Without a dispensation you can claim whatever the actual receipted value so long as the amount is reasonable for the circumstances.

I've considered getting a dispensation in order to reduce the admin. but I don't like the idea of having expenses capped at such paultry rates, and there are some petty rules about when you can/can't claim.

[kingcook]

So you don't normally eat lunch at work then?

I really CBA to dig out all the details yet again to prove you wrong, but for 20% of £5 - a whole £200 a year - is it really worth the hassle?

I'm not wrong.

And yes it's worth it.

My lunches cost me £1000+ per year. If that weren't reimbursed by my company i'd have to take an extra £1000+ dividend to replace what i'd spent on those lunches which would take me into the higher tax bracket.

[Wanderer]

Can I ask a question here... This £5 allowance.... Can you only claim what you spend or can you put the whole rate in even if you bought a £1.99 sarnie?

Your company can reimburse the actual amount spent unless your company/umbrella has a dispensation in which case they can pay you any amount up to the amount of the dispensation.

So if your umbrella/company has a dispensation for £5 for lunch and you spend any amount (say £1.99) they can (at their own discretion) pay you up to £5.


There is a lot of FUD surrounding this one and a lot of the guidance isn't that clear. Also, some unscrupulous umbrella companies may abuse their dispensations by paying the full amount without really worrying too much about an actual expense being incurred so there is a lot of angst about this from the more straight up umbrella companies. HMRC don't like it and have been rattling their sabres about it for years but they don't stop it either.

[moggy]

Can I ask a question here... This £5 allowance.... Can you only claim what you spend or can you put the whole rate in even if you bought a £1.99 sarnie?

have you done a search and looked to the links?

[northernladuk]

Can I ask a question here... This £5 allowance.... Can you only claim what you spend or can you put the whole rate in even if you bought a £1.99 sarnie?

[Wanderer]

So you don't normally eat lunch at work then?

You know the answer to that! When a contractor is working at the normal place of work (home), they would have a cooked meal made out of food available at home. When they work away from the normal workplace they may incur an additional expense which the company reimburses. This is allowable against tax (24 month rule not withstanding).

A higher rate tax payer can get tax relief worth about 40% of whatever they claim in expenses.

Contract/perm/whatever, I typically spend over £2,000 per year on lunches so that's at least £800 extra in my pocket. Worth claiming? Oh yes. If someone was very frugal then maybe not.

[malvolio]

While you're working on client site, you're entitled to claim lunch expenses.

So you don't normally eat lunch at work then?

I really CBA to dig out all the details yet again to prove you wrong, but for 20% of £5 - a whole £200 a year - is it really worth the hassle?

[kingcook]

Contractor Expenses Guide - What Can I Claim As a Contractor With My Own Limited Company

Key bit:

For me it's an odd one. I'm contracted to work in location A, but I actually work in location B, this is due to the clients security requirements. But I did ask my accountant and I was told it's not allowable.

Your home is your normal place of work. A client site is a temporary/remote place of work. While you're working on client site, you're entitled to claim lunch expenses.

You can also claim evening meal expenses if staying away overnight.