Subsistence allowance - need receipts?

[grey_lady]

Help,

Pretty new to this, I trade through a LTD company and I have kept receipts for all travel, purchases etc but not for the £5 a day subsistence allowance.

Have I messed up? Can the tax man audit me a couple of years down the road and demand receipts for the takeaway sarnie I grabbed at the cafe over the road.

Thanks!

[Lucifer Box]

Help,

Pretty new to this, I trade through a LTD company and I have kept receipts for all travel, purchases etc but not for the £5 a day subsistence allowance.

Have I messed up? Can the tax man audit me a couple of years down the road and demand receipts for the takeaway sarnie I grabbed at the cafe over the road.

Thanks!

Hi grey_lady, welcome aboard.

The £5 a day subsistence allowance (more correctly it is a PIEs allowance) is only allowable unreceipted for overnight stays away from home and is designed to cover the cost of small incidentals for which it is impractical to get a receipt or other proof of purchase, e.g. a newspaper or a phone call home. It is not designed to give you £5/day unreceipted tax deductible expenses regardless. If the overnight stay is abroad, the PIEs allowance is £10.

In theory, unless you have been staying away from home overnight every time you claim the unreceipted £5 (and can prove it), you would be expected to produce receipts or other proof of purchase if challenged, yes.

I am glad to hear you have kept good records of all other purchases though. You would be surprised how many do not. And remember, you can purchase absolutely anything you like through the company, the real question is whether it is a BIK and should have appeared on your P11D or not. Without proof of spend or overnight stay, HMRC will rule it a BIK and require payment of tax and NI on it, plus interest. I would have thought a penalty unlikely as we aren't talking a huge amount of money here.

Incidentally, was this advice given to you by your accountant? If so, you should definitely pull them up on this.

[boredsenseless]

Starting early today LB! Can't remember the last time I saw 5am

[Lucifer Box]

Little Damien a bit restless?

No nanny at the moment. Makes him jumpy.

[Lucifer Box]

Starting early today LB! Can't remember the last time I saw 5am

It's a regular thing for me these days.