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Subsistence - Exactly what can be claimed?

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    #21
    Originally posted by CloudWalker View Post
    Can you claim for Food & Drink ? e.g (breakfast / Lunch /Diner ) if working over your normal hours ?
    I remember I could do this under my old umbrella company up to £20 pd
    It depends. So let's make some assumptions:
    • You are working via your own Ltd Co.
    • Your company does not have a P11DX dispensation from HMRC.
    • Client site is in the UK.
    • You travel daily from your normal place of work (i.e. your home) to the client site.
    • You have been making this same (or similar) business journey for less than 24 months.
    • The business trip does not involve an overnight stay.

    In that case:
    • The HMRC benchmark scale rates do NOT apply.
    • Incidental overnight expenses do NOT apply (clue is in the name).
    • There are no "round sum" allowances.
    • Worked hours are NOT relevant.
    • All REASONABLE subsistence expenses over and above usual subsistence costs at your normal workplace (home) may be claimed.
    • You may claim the FULL amount of the actual expenses, not just the extra incurred.
    • You must RETAIN RECEIPTS as proof.
    • Choose your own definition of 'reasonable' but expect to defend it in court if you take the p*$$.
    • 'Claim' means either paid out of-pocket and reimbursed by YourCo., or paid directly by YourCo.
    • You must record the sum total of all subsistence expenses on your P11D (and your personal SA) regardless of how it was paid for.
    • The expense is deductible from YourCo.'s profit, it saves on corporation tax and that's it.

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      #22
      Great answer. There are some things I'm genuinely puzzled about though.

      Originally posted by Contreras View Post
      • The HMRC benchmark scale rates do NOT apply.
      • There are no "round sum" allowances.
      Can you tell us when the scale rates described in EIM05231 DO apply.
      Free advice and opinions - refunds are available if you are not 100% satisfied.

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        #23
        Originally posted by Wanderer View Post
        Great answer. There are some things I'm genuinely puzzled about though.

        Can you tell us when the scale rates described in EIM05231 DO apply.
        I was careful to set out some assumptions!

        The scale rates apply if you have agreed them (through a P11D dispensation) with HMRC. There are separate scale rates for travelling abroad which do NOT require a dispensation. None of these are round sum allowances.
        Last edited by Contreras; 16 July 2013, 08:00. Reason: Edit for brevity.

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          #24
          You may claim for the costs of lunch purchased on the way to a temporary location or during your lunch break at a temporary location provided an additional cost is incurred over what you would have spent normally if you were not at the temporary location.

          Lunch could be in the form of a pre packed sandwich purchased on the way to the temporary location, or a meal at a cafe.

          If you are staying away from home overnight due to work commitments then you can also claim the cost of breakfast and an evening meal, again providing the costs are not excessive. All breakfast, lunch and evening meal claims should be receipted.

          You may also claim a ‘flat rate’ subsistence allowance of £5 per night (£10 if overseas) if staying away from home to cover incidentals. This is an un-receipted claim.

          I hope this helps

          Brett

          Comment


            #25
            Originally posted by Wanderer View Post
            Great answer. There are some things I'm genuinely puzzled about though.



            Can you tell us when the scale rates described in EIM05231 DO apply.
            They apply when the conditions are met (see your link) and a dispensation is in place, as Contreras mentioned. I believe it's also possible to agree other scale rates through separate dispensation with HMRC. Once a dispensation is in place, you can elect to use the scale rates or claim for actual expenses (plus any overnight incidentals), varying that between claims. I believe the scale rates may be combined with incidental allowable expenses (i.e. the scale rates do not factor these), but I've never bothered with that as the scale rates are decent.

            Comment


              #26
              Originally posted by Brett at Nixon Williams View Post
              You may also claim a ‘flat rate’ subsistence allowance of £5 per night (£10 if overseas) if staying away from home to cover incidentals. This is an un-receipted claim.

              I hope this helps

              Brett
              Interested about the flat-rate subsistence, I was always told to claim this it is better to have receipts
              In Scooter we trust

              Comment


                #27
                Originally posted by The Spartan View Post
                Interested about the flat-rate subsistence, I was always told to claim this it is better to have receipts
                It's for newpspapers, phone calls home and other trivia - stuff that is too small to have a discrete VATable invoice.
                Blog? What blog...?

                Comment


                  #28
                  Originally posted by malvolio View Post
                  It's for newpspapers, phone calls home and other trivia - stuff that is too small to have a discrete VATable invoice.
                  Ahhh as well as laundry I guess, all this time I've been keeping receipts
                  In Scooter we trust

                  Comment


                    #29
                    Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
                    Once a dispensation is in place, you can elect to use the scale rates or claim for actual expenses (plus any overnight incidentals), varying that between claims. I believe the scale rates may be combined with incidental allowable expenses (i.e. the scale rates do not factor these), but I've never bothered with that as the scale rates are decent.
                    I beg to differ on both those points.

                    Originally posted by The Spartan View Post
                    Interested about the flat-rate subsistence, I was always told to claim this it is better to have receipts
                    Technically it's not "flat-rate", not an "allowance" and not intended for subsistence claims either.

                    See Employment income: incidental overnight expenses: exemption from charge and the pages it links to. HTH.

                    Comment


                      #30
                      As far as I am aware the new benchmark scale rates that were introduced a couple of years ago do not require an HMRC dispensation - you need to indicate to them that you will use these rates by ticking the appropriate box on the P11DX but you won't have to go through a sampling exercise. That said you will have to have it independently verified that the scale rate payments do represent a genuine cost.
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