Reply to: Three phone contract - personal to business transfer

[Wanderer]

Just ring Three and ask them to include the company name on the account, with your name as the director of the company
Whether its a busness expense is all to do with business/personal use - not the plan its on.

I don't know about Three but I presume the requirement for being "in the Business name" would be satisfied by having the business name on the statement. Remember that it must also be paid from the business account. My business credit card (Cater Allen) has my name on it so it may be possible to use that to pay the bill.

Some providers see a LTD company as a higher risk than a person so they may charge more. Others charge the same. There are loads of providers out there and some of them don't charge a premium to small businesses so shop around folks..

[psychocandy]

You don't need to change it from a personal plan to a business plan.

Just ring Three and ask them to include the company name on the account, with your name as the director of the company

Whether its a busness expense is all to do with business/personal use - not the plan its on.

Dont think so Aussie mate. Agreed the actual plan its on is nothing to do with it but, and this is according to HMRC (see the links above), its got to be :-

1. In companies name. Fair enough what you said above should be ok but some providers wont like doing this.

2. Paid from company account. Unfortunately, none of the providers will let you pay for a personal plan from a business account. And it is a requirement of HMRC that its paid directly from a business account (i.e You cant pay personally and then expense it).

Stupid maybe because HMRC allow you to claim other genuine business expenses by paying personally and then expensing but not mobile phones. Unfortunately, those are the rules.

[AussieDigger]

You don't need to change it from a personal plan to a business plan.

Just ring Three and ask them to include the company name on the account, with your name as the director of the company

Whether its a busness expense is all to do with business/personal use - not the plan its on.

[psychocandy]

The contract must be in the Business name and paid from the business account. The exact rules are on hmrc's website and they are reasonably clear.

If you can't get a business tariff then there is nothing to stop the company buying a phone contract-free and giving it to you to put your own SIM into, but you can't claim a personal contract rental back. If you make business calls on your personal mobile then there are arcane rules to cover that, go and read HMRC's website if you want the gory details.

Thanks. I wasnt 100% sure if it had to be both in company name and from business account.

Given up now. To be fair its not worth the hassle to save a few quid. It seems the mobile companies offer personal contracts at much cheaper rate than corresponding business contracts so its just not worth paying the extra.

I know t-mobile do sim-only business deals at the same rate but I couldnt find anything worthwhile.
In the end, got personal contract with free phone for £26/month which is pretty good. Same contract as a business one would have cost £38/month so no point in doing that!

[northernladuk]

Anyone know what the exact rules are for claiming as an expense?

Does it have to be in business name and paid from business account? Or can you pay from personal account?

How come you say the rules are pretty clear cut on this one and the demostrate you don't know what the rules are???? Bit more research me thinks. This is asked enough times on here.

Duhhhh

[Wanderer]

Anyone know what the exact rules are for claiming as an expense?

Does it have to be in business name and paid from business account? Or can you pay from personal account?

The contract must be in the Business name and paid from the business account. The exact rules are on hmrc's website and they are reasonably clear.

If you can't get a business tariff then there is nothing to stop the company buying a phone contract-free and giving it to you to put your own SIM into, but you can't claim a personal contract rental back. If you make business calls on your personal mobile then there are arcane rules to cover that, go and read HMRC's website if you want the gory details.

[psychocandy]

Anyone know what the exact rules are for claiming as an expense?

Does it have to be in business name and paid from business account? Or can you pay from personal account?

[psychocandy]

Forget all this nonsense about getting a "free" phone.

Just buy the phone outright as a business expense then get a SIM only business contract from T-Mobile. 500 minutes, 250 texts, 500 Meg of internets for £7.78+VAT on a 12 month contract or £11.66+VAT on a 30 day contract. Same price for business or personal.

Good point. Didnt think of that option.

BUT, just worked it out. Phone costs £440. Even with the cheaper tariff to be honest it works out just about the same as paying £26/month and getting phone for free.

[Wanderer]

Given up on my quest to find a decent business deal.

£26/month for 300 mins, 750mb data, unlimited text on t-mobile through mobiles.co.uk
BUT is personal only not business.

Best business tariff is £36 a month, so even with 20% CT saved (i.e. £7.20) still not worth it.

Might as well just pay out for a personal tariff....

Forget all this nonsense about getting a "free" phone.

Just buy the phone outright as a business expense then get a SIM only business contract from T-Mobile. 500 minutes, 250 texts, 500 Meg of internets for £7.78+VAT on a 12 month contract or £11.66+VAT on a 30 day contract. Same price for business or personal.

[Wanderer]

I also have VoIP at home with caller ID to look like my mobile

Skype does this, can't remember exactly how but it was pretty easy. They send a confirmation text to your phone and then they set it up.

I guess most others do too, spoofing caller ID appears to be pretty trivial.

[Contreras]

I also have VoIP at home with caller ID to look like my mobile

How do you do this ?

Ask the VoIP provider to set it up for you (with proof that you own the number, obviously).

A better CUK thread for this is here.

[escapeUK]

Given up on my quest to find a decent business deal.

£26/month for 300 mins, 750mb data, unlimited text on t-mobile through mobiles.co.uk
BUT is personal only not business.

Best business tariff is £36 a month, so even with 20% CT saved (i.e. £7.20) still not worth it.

Might as well just pay out for a personal tariff....

Might as well, what do you invoice a month £7000, £9000? And you are worried about 20% of a mobile phone bill. Peanuts.

[Boo]

I also have VoIP at home with caller ID to look like my mobile

How do you do this ?

Boo

[psychocandy]

Given up on my quest to find a decent business deal.

£26/month for 300 mins, 750mb data, unlimited text on t-mobile through mobiles.co.uk
BUT is personal only not business.

Best business tariff is £36 a month, so even with 20% CT saved (i.e. £7.20) still not worth it.

Might as well just pay out for a personal tariff....

[Scoobos]

How is that "FREE"?

Would you be happy to pay £26 month if it didn't include the phone?

Well yes, as the nearest equivalent with Vodafone was 35 quid.