Travel expenses threshold...

[ittony]

Threshold of being bothered that is. I never have until now, but in these austere times I'm wondering if I should. I've racked up a massive 600 miles driving and a £60 quid hotel this year, which I gather means my company can pay me £300 tax free, putting an extra 60 quid odd in my pocket versus letting it come out through dividends, but is it really going to be worth the effort? What extra forms am I going to have to fill in for me and my company?

Thanks in advance for making the effort to reply though. It's a different kind of effort to form filling I hope, a nicer kind... sort of. Cheers!

[Nixon Williams]

Threshold of being bothered that is. I never have until now, but in these austere times I'm wondering if I should. I've racked up a massive 600 miles driving and a £60 quid hotel this year, which I gather means my company can pay me £300 tax free, putting an extra 60 quid odd in my pocket versus letting it come out through dividends, but is it really going to be worth the effort? What extra forms am I going to have to fill in for me and my company?

Thanks in advance for making the effort to reply though. It's a different kind of effort to form filling I hope, a nicer kind... sort of. Cheers!

Provided you pay the mileage rates at the HMRC approved rate of 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter, there is no reporting necessary.

The hotel cost will need to be reported on the P11d (assuming you do not have a dispensation) but your accountant shoule be completing this for you.

If you are a 40% taxpayer, the net benefit will be £120.

Alan

[Sockpuppet]

Provided you pay the mileage rates at the HMRC approved rate of 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter, there is no reporting necessary.

The hotel cost will need to be reported on the P11d (assuming you do not have a dispensation) but your accountant shoule be completing this for you.

If you are a 40% taxpayer, the net benefit will be £120.

Alan

I thought that the P11(d)s had to have mileage on there as well?

[northernladuk]

Just to state the obvious but it is going to be 45p next year so makes it worthwhile.

I would hazard a guess that by not claiming the mileage and hotel you are also not claiming phone, home office space, xmas do allowance, subsistance yadda yadda yadda. It all adds up to a considerable (depending on how rich you are of course) amount so worth thinking about.

Think about it this way. You are £60 quid out of pocket but you are giving that money to the tax man which should quite rightly be yours, not his. For this reason alone, out of principle, I would seriously consider going back over my accounts and claiming everything. I get screwed hard enough by the tax man withough giving him money he isn't due.

It's your by right so claim it IMO.

This is just for this contract as well remember. The next one might be considerably more so worth getting in to the right routine now, even if it is just peanuts. Takes ages to get your head around all the things you can do.

Oh just to add. I pay an accountant which also costs me so I am gonna use him to get every penny I can back (without anything too dodgy or questionable). No point having an accountant and then giving free money away as well. Might be different if you are doing your own of course.

[ittony]

Thanks all. I do my own accounts mostly, so if the miles don't have to be documented then I'll definitely not bother expensing the hotel if it gets me out of filling in a P11D for the sake of 21% of £60 quid.

As for my accountant, all he does is mail merge the figures I send him each year into an annual report Word template he has and send it back to me with a 500 quid invoice. In fact it seems the incremental cost of each additional line on my books is around £12 so that's another reason not to bother expensing most things.

[TheFaQQer]

Thanks all. I do my own accounts mostly, so if the miles don't have to be documented then I'll definitely not bother expensing the hotel if it gets me out of filling in a P11D for the sake of 21% of £60 quid.

As for my accountant, all he does is mail merge the figures I send him each year into an annual report Word template he has and send it back to me with a 500 quid invoice. In fact it seems the incremental cost of each additional line on my books is around £12 so that's another reason not to bother expensing most things.

If that's all he does, why not get a copy of the template and do it all yourself?

[ittony]

If that's all he does, why not get a copy of the template and do it all yourself?

I'd love to. Any idea where I can get one?

[northernladuk]

I'd love to. Any idea where I can get one?

SJD do some very good templates. Unfortuantely some of the items are locked and need SJD to change but still a very good start.

Downloads - Accountants UK - SJD Accountancy