Expenses
 

It is tax efficient to maximise your personal expense claim however this will not completely eliminate any tax liability and you cannot claim any expenses which are not justified or "vouched" by the appropriate receipt or invoice. In addition, we will check your expense claims when you submit them.

Please note expenses must be “wholly, necessarily and exclusively” for the nature of the assignment.
In addition, the Inland Revenue may choose to enquire into your tax affairs under their normal powers and the fact that your affairs are administered by Smart Pay Consulting Limited in no way changes this.

What are allowable expenses?

Travel Expenses
Travel expenses incurred in the course of your duties are an allowable expense, for example visiting a site from your office. Travel to and from a temporary place of work is also allowable.

Travel should normally be by second class rail or standard class air fares.

Motor Expenses
If you use your own car for business motoring, e.g. visiting sites or home to temporary workplace, then you may claim an allowable expense of 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. To claim this, you need to maintain a log of your business journeys which should be written up on a daily basis. Also, parking costs may be claimed as can the Congestion Charge in London.

Other mileage rates are claimable for use of motorcycles and bicycles.

Overnight Accommodation
If you have to work away from your "normal place of employment" you may have to use overnight accommodation such as hotels, etc.

Subsistence
If you work away from your "normal place of work" or at a "temporary" workplace, you may claim expenses in respect of a meal allowance. These amounts can be substantiated from your time sheet.

Clothing
Protective clothing such as waterproofs, high visibility clothing, overalls, work boots, etc are allowable areas of expense if your job necessitates them, for example for site visits. Also, the cleaning and maintenance of them is allowable.

Other clothing, such as business suits, are not allowable and neither is their upkeep, even if you may not wear such clothing other than for work.

Training & Professional Subscriptions
If you are a member of a professional body, you will incur membership fees, these are an allowable expense against your taxable income. In addition, most professional bodies require that their members should undertake training during the year to maintain their expertise. As such, subscriptions to professional publications are an allowable expense. Day or weekend training courses are usually allowable as well, when clearly tied into a professional update or perhaps a new piece of software or hardware.

Events such as week long "seminars" in exotic locations or golf days run by suppliers are more likely to be corporate hospitality events and, as such, not allowable expenses for tax purposes.

Telephone Expenses
Business use of your own phone is also allowable for business calls. An itemised phone bill is required to substantiate your claim. The line rental, personal calls, messaging, etc is not allowable. If your contractor supplies you with a mobile phone, to better perform your duties, no benefit arises.

Other Expenses
Most personal expenses are not allowable expenses for tax purposes. Items such as hairdressing, dentistry, personal grooming, etc may not be claimed as expenses. Other sundry items such as the supply of equipment and postage necessary for you to perform your duties are allowable.

If you are unclear about any expenses, please speak to one of our advisors to help in your expense claim.


I found the staff to be very friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.
 
---Yaser Hussain (Contractor)