Expenses via PSC

[GhostofTarbera]

A PS5 or an xbox would actually be useless for development - there are explicit (and rather expensive) development kits for consoles. The only reason for a console itself would be research and that would be hard to argue due to dual purpose if you purchased it and didn't have a separate office.

Past 2 clients have had numerous PS4/Xbox pool tables, even a free bar in breakout areas

One rule for big co’s ?


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[Maslins]

If you're currently working via an umbrella, is your Ltd Co actually doing anything? The basic rule for a business cost to be valid is it should be "wholly and exclusively for the benefit of the trade". Based on your comments it would seem hard to justify that the new laptop and mobile will benefit your business. I'd therefore be inclined to agree with your accountant overall here, although not on their comments that mobile phones are never justifiable.

I'm guessing you're working via an umbrella because most of the gigs available at the time were inside IR35? If so, and you think this is unlikely to change in the near future (especially with upcoming IR35 changes), then I'd anticipate you're likely to be looking to close your company soon. Again, this would make it hard to justify capital purchases right near the end of the company's life. Plus where you did make those purchases and then wanted to keep the assets personally afterwards, you'd need to pay fair market value to your company for them.

In my view the only way you could attempt to justify these (with or without a straight face) is that whilst you're not currently invoicing via your company, you are still trading and attempting to secure work, and your business needs the laptop/mobile to help it do so. If you keep the company ticking over long term it may get tax relief for the full value of these assets, but again if you were to close soon they'll need to be dealt with via that.

[Maslins]

Past 2 clients have had numerous PS4/Xbox pool tables, even a free bar in breakout areas

One rule for big co’s ?

Those assets will typically live at the office (not the director's home), and be available for all staff. It makes it far more plausible to justify they're bought to benefit the trade, rather than for the personal benefit of the person who signed off on the purchase.

[GhostofTarbera]

Those assets will typically live at the office (not the director's home), and be available for all staff. It makes it far more plausible to justify they're bought to benefit the trade, rather than for the personal benefit of the person who signed off on the purchase.

You will be saying I can’t expense my 2 seasons tickets at Arsenal next !!

Right next to the BT, virgin, sky corporate boxes


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[northernladuk]

Past 2 clients have had numerous PS4/Xbox pool tables, even a free bar in breakout areas

One rule for big co’s ?

Doesn't mean they claimed the tax back on them.

[northernladuk]

You will be saying I can’t expense my 2 seasons tickets at Arsenal next !!

Right next to the BT, virgin, sky corporate boxes

I don't think the rules apply to worthless items that no one else wants does it?

[fullyautomatix]

Imagine if HMRC actually scanned every expense of every LTD company and started asking questions.

[oilboil]

Well he shouldn't really let you put it through. The company name means nothing as it's a personal tarif. I also think a new phone every year is taking the piss.

So I think he's wrong doing what he's doing and he's wrong advising this.. I'd be looking out for a new accountant if I were you.

It's perfectly OK to provide a director with the kit to make phone calls for their business. They can opt to put whatever SIM in that phone they want, they can only reclaim the cost of the airtime though if the tariff is a business one.

For instance there are three of us in the company, the company provides us all with a mobile handset. We provide our own SIM airtime contract because the contracts we can get personally all are less than the personal use charge we woudl otherwise incur. So long as the phone is still used for business purposes this is all perfectly fine.

A new phone every year (unless you can show the old one is actually broken and so was a replacement not an upgrade) is taking the P; almost every true company doing handset replacements works on a three year rolling upgrade plan

[oilboil]

Imagine if HMRC actually scanned every expense of every LTD company and started asking questions.

They can, they just don't (as it would cost too much)

[cannon999]

Be careful with this though.
If you only develop for clients and they provide the test environment you’ve lost your justification.
It’s one reason I always use my business devices for proof of concept testing.

Note: a PS5 could be considered taking the PS unless you’re actually developing for one.

What do you mean, they provide a test environment? If I am developing software for a mobile device - I have to make sure it works on actual devices. Simulators are NOT the same (although these can also be used for testing).