Claiming expenses from an Umbrella company when you've left a contract/project

[TheCulprit]

Am I right in saying Trafalgar still have to pay me these as I'm entitled to them?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Am I right in saying Trafalgar still have to pay me these as I'm entitled to them?

A little more information would be useful - are you still employed by your umbrella company? Have you been paid for the work done? Are you now working on another assignment? What sort of expenses are you referring to? Why do you think you are 'entitled'?

[moggy]

Think Lisa is correct really more information would be needed.

IMO though, if they are expenses to be claimed via your umbrella and they have not paid them out yet, and you now have no further funds to be paid out then no they wouldn't have to pay them to you, as they couldn't until you have further billing.

If however they are expenses that your client is billed for them yes they would.

But as you have only given a brief line about the situation its not easy to determine

Probabaly best to speak to them and find out why, and what they mean.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Think Lisa is correct really more information would be needed.

IMO though, if they are expenses to be claimed via your umbrella and they have not paid them out yet, and you now have no further funds to be paid out then no they wouldn't have to pay them to you, as they couldn't until you have further billing.

If however they are expenses that your client is billed for them yes they would.

But as you have only given a brief line about the situation its not easy to determine

Probabaly best to speak to them and find out why, and what they mean.

Good point Moggy - the best question to have asked would have been when did you submit your expenses?

[moggy]

Good point Moggy - the best question to have asked would have been when did you submit your expenses?

+1 my guess is late

[Wanderer]

+1 my guess is late

If they can't be claimed through the umbrella, can they be claimed through a self assessment tax return instead?

[moggy]

being honest no idea, but IMO I doubt it as they are expenses to be claimed via an agreed expense policy with your "employer" to be offset rather than on top.

Aren't they discretionary expenses from an umbrella or am I way behind the times?

[Wanderer]

Am I right in saying Trafalgar still have to pay me these as I'm entitled to them?

It's at the umbrella's discretion that they accept your expense claims. If the umbrella won't pay the claim for whatever reason, it may be possible to claim it back on a Self Assessment or P87.

If an employee worked through an umbrella which had a scale rate dispensation and they incurred an expense then they could claim the flat rate in the dispensation (eg, £10 for a meal). However, a the claim via HMRC may be limited to the amount actually spent rather than the scale rate in the umbrella's dispensation.

I have heard that there is a rule that if you only take a single engagement through an umbrella company and then resign, all your expenses claims are disallowed. However, I know someone who did exactly this and there was no comeback from it so I don't know it that is true or not....

You are best to talk to HMRC or a tax advisor who can guide you through the process.

[bangface]

I have heard that there is a rule that if you only take a single engagement through an umbrella company and then resign, all your expenses claims are disallowed. However, I know someone who did exactly this and there was no comeback from it so I don't know it that is true or not....

Yes that is correct, HMRC will treat the temp workplace as a permanent place of work for tax and is why all brollies will state that it must be your intention to work on more than 1 temp contract during your employment with them! If you don't want to risk a tax hit at a later date, just make sure you work on at least 2 contracts!! You will probably find reference to this in the brollies expenses claim forms or from within their expenses policy, so it should come of no surprise although I suspect it will be nicely hidden in all the small print to cover themselves after they have encouraged you to claim massive subsistence claims you haven't receipted for which you will now get clobbered for by the tax man! I know of one brolly who's policy is to disallow expenses to the contractor on the first contract, but they will allow expenses thereafter, thus ensuring there are no issues in this regard.

I guess the person you know just got lucky for now in that his/her brolly didn't report the expenses on the P11D, although I expect HMRC will pick this up when they audit the brolly in the future so it is only delaying the inevitable...

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Yes that is correct, HMRC will treat the temp workplace as a permanent place of work for tax and is why all brollies will state that it must be your intention to work on more than 1 temp contract during your employment with them! If you don't want to risk a tax hit at a later date, just make sure you work on at least 2 contracts!! You will probably find reference to this in the brollies expenses claim forms or from within their expenses policy, so it should come of no surprise although I suspect it will be nicely hidden in all the small print to cover themselves after they have encouraged you to claim massive subsistence claims you haven't receipted for which you will now get clobbered for by the tax man! I know of one brolly who's policy is to disallow expenses to the contractor on the first contract, but they will allow expenses thereafter, thus ensuring there are no issues in this regard.

I guess the person you know just got lucky for now in that his/her brolly didn't report the expenses on the P11D, although I expect HMRC will pick this up when they audit the brolly in the future so it is only delaying the inevitable...

Not all umbrella companies encourage massive expense claims Bangface