Expenses. Apparently I can't Claim Any

[Peter Loew]

Hi All,

I live in Central London and have just started a good gig in the Berkshire area which requires me to be on site all the time except when I have to travel around for meetings etc.

I lodge in my Dad's spare room most of the week and would like to pay him rent for this.

However, I am told by my accountants that:

• I cannot claim any car miles for the travel to the client site (from London or my Dad's place) and
• I cannot claim any rent / accommodation

This is apparently because my company is registered to my home in Central London, but I am spending > 80% of my time on the client site, which means I treat the client site as my base.

But with the 3rd Party consultancies on site, they also spend 100% of their time onsite and yet can claim expenses from their companies.

Does this sound right to you guys? Can I claim any expenses at all?

P

[krytonsheep]

As long as the contract is for less than 2 years, you should be able to claim mileage (have a look at tax guide 490). Not sure about accommodation though.

[Nick44]

Cant claim any commuting mileage at all now. Mileage needs to be business miles.
Business mileage is the number of miles you have travelled while actually doing your work or spent travelling to a temporary workplace.
NOTE: You cannot get tax relief for travel between home and a permanent workplace!

key phrases there are "temporary workplace" and "permanent workplace"

[thunderlizard]

It depends how long you expect to be working on that site in Berkshire. If it's more than 2 years, then as you're spending most of your time there, your expenses will be taxable. If you expect to be there less than 2 years, they aren't.

[swamp]

Get a new accountant.

[tim123]

Get a new accountant.

I thought that, but the last time I said it, everyone thought I was being rude

tim

[TykeMerc]

Get a new accountant.

WHS.

Your accountant has either got totally the wrong end of the stick or is completely clueless.

[NotAllThere]

I thought that, but the last time I said it, everyone thought I was being rude

tim

Oh it is rude. But on this occassion, possibly entirely accurate. If your accountant really does mean what you think he means, then he has less clue than... me!

[BolshieBastard]

Get a new accountant.

^^^^ WHS!

[Peter Loew]

I have skimmed through Tax Guide 490, and it says all kinds of things which I am unsure relate to me or not.

OK, so if everyone thinks I should get a new accountant, can you at least then explain what the expense rules are, as surely many of us are in the position where we have to work only at the client site under terms of the contract, and we travel into that client site daily either from home or from a type of purposely rented accommodation that is closer to the client site.

It's really quite simple isn't it, and surely many of us do this daily; so what expense rules do you follow and can you reference these rules back to the Tax Guide 490 document (or any other HMRC doc)?

P