Reply to: Train Ticket Receipts

[Boo]

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?

Just put "train fare" ?

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.

If you buy from one of the machines then you can request a receipt which is a distinct piece of paper separate from the ticket . Presumably the offices will do the same ?

Boo

[AgentJohnson]

The receipt vs. credit/debit card receipt are very similar.

If I was HMRC doing an inquiry, I would want to see either, plus the ticket to travel to ensure it was wholly and exclusively relevant due to the tulip nature of the above items. But what do I know. Probably nothing.

[AgentJohnson]

FWIW the 2 differing pieces of card

DEBIT/CREDIT CARD SALES VOUCHER (#STATION INFO ETC#)
Qty Description Number Total
001 TICKET #random# £0.00 (Mastercard - C/Visa V) etc.
Date Issuing office Tkt No. #ACTUAL TKT NUMBER#
00.MMM.YY Your Mum Stn Station Code etc.
Customer card number CARD TYPE
**** **** **** 0000 00 CARDHOLDER'S COPY
A0000000000000
CARD TYPE
Authorised Sale confirmed
#auth number#
Debit my card account with the total amount
Please retain for you records
Printed HH:MM on DD.MMM.YY

VS.


NOT VALID FOR TRAVEL
Description Amount
TICKET £0.00 M/W/X (M = cash/W = warrant e.g. vouchers in whole payment/X = card whole or part payment)
Date Time Number
DD.MMM.YY HH.MM #Actual ticket number# #Issuing office number#
Issuing Office
Your Mum Stn
VAT Reg. No.

RECEIPT

[Contreras]

I bow to your superior knowledge

You do need to keep proper receipts in terms of the calculation of your Corporation Tax. A credit card statement / bank statement is not sufficient.

You need to keep proper records in terms of the calculation of your Corporation Tax.

Ordinarily that would include keeping receipts but on occasion it may not.

[Scruff]

VAT numbered receipts are not required if your co. is on the FRS VAT scheme.

As you say, a receipt should always be offered so it's difficult to see the problem. It's not specifically receipts that are required though, just evidence that the expense was incurred.

Credit card vouchers and/or bank statement showing the transaction would suffice, but really it should be habit to ask for and keep receipts as well as using a company card for business expenses.

I bow to your superior knowledge

You do need to keep proper receipts in terms of the calculation of your Corporation Tax. A credit card statement / bank statement is not sufficient.

[aoxomoxoa]

Maybe he can add NLUK to his Ignore List

FTFY

[Platypus]

You haven't met northernladuk yet

Maybe he can use the "Search" facility to find him?!

[kingcook]

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

You haven't met northernladuk yet

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Seeing as there isn't usually any VAT to recover on rail tickets anyway, would you need a VAT receipt even on the normal VAT scheme?

[Contreras]

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.

VAT numbered receipts are not required if your co. is on the FRS VAT scheme.

As you say, a receipt should always be offered so it's difficult to see the problem. It's not specifically receipts that are required though, just evidence that the expense was incurred.

Credit card vouchers and/or bank statement showing the transaction would suffice, but really it should be habit to ask for and keep receipts as well as using a company card for business expenses.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.