Mr Anchovy, Mr Anchovy.. Receipts for under £10

[rahrahthelion]

hELLO - I remember reading once that CMs dont need receipts for things under £10... Myth or fact?

Am wondering if to bother storing all my Xmas pressie receipts for my mindees....

no you don't have to keep receipts for things under £10. Maybe if its hitting 9.99 or you have several items over the course of weeks it might be a good idea to keep - I always do for one off items such as xmas pressies - things that aren't a regular expense iyswim

Thanks so much x

Fact

"Receipts for items of expenditure will not be required for items costing less than £10."

Thanks Mr A

sorry to butt in, but after clicking on the link im a bit confused :(

Which journeys qualify for allowance?

Taxpayers can only claim the amount per mile basis for journeys that are wholly and exclusively for business purposes

Taxpayers cannot claim the allowance for private journeys, such as travel from home to work, or for journeys that serve both a business and a private purpose

Further guidance on when travel costs are allowable can be found at BIM37600 onwards

im self employed for the temp work and maternity work i do, but if jobs a month or so longer then am employed - and was told i can be both employed and self employed by tax office

obv the work i do as self employed i claim for mileage at 45p per mile to and from work

reading the link you did Mr A - does this mean that i cant claim driving to work, ie if i work in Orpington then i claim 37 miles 18.5 each way @45p so £16.65 each day

and then add up all my miles and take that off my gross amount earnt, after personal allowance

thank you :)

When you're self employed, your normal place of work is probably home isn't it Blondes?

I don't think you can claim for travel to and from work, I checked with my accountant and he gave me an example of a brick layer that went to the courts and was tried. I'm a maternity nurse and only claim travel for interviews.

hsmm - no, coz i dont work from home, as not a childminder, im a nanny so go to their houses - so NEVER work from my home

i claimed to and from houses i worked in last tax year year so assumed i could this tax year

or can i only claim for any miles i do during work ie going to mother/toddler/swimming etc

totally confused now :(

I wouldn't have thought you could claim for your regular work, but maybe could for one off assignments, because they're not your normal place of work? Don't quote me though ... just thinking out loud.

Blondes I am not a tax accountant. DH claims for all work related mileage as his business address is our home address. If your business is registered at your home then you can claim I think

I checked with my accountant and he gave me an example of a brick layer that went to the courts and was tried. I'm a maternity nurse and only claim travel for interviews.

I'm stunned.

The crucial case for the self employed did indeed involve a bricklayer, but the decision was in his favour (Horton v Young 1971)!

Check with your accountant again, he is going to have a lot of work to do - how many years does this go back?

Yes Blondes, travel to a temporary workplace (where temporary is defined as less than two years) is an allowable expense of employment.

It goes in the Employment section of your tax return under Employment Expenses - Business travel and subsistence expenses 9 (Box 17 of the SA102 paper return).

If your business is registered at your home then you can claim I think

It doesn't make the slightest bit of difference where your business is registered. Although there are hundreds of pages of HMRC internal guidance on this and thousands of pages of case law I will attempt to sum up the main principals:

If you are self employed:

If your business has a permanent location, like a shop or a yard, that is likely to be your normal place of business. You will not be able to claim travel to and from that place.

If you travel to one or more temporary places of business (where temporary means less than two years) you will normally be allowed to claim travel to and from (and between) those places (note special rules apply for workers living away from home on site).

HMRC internal guidance relating to self employed travel expenses is here.

If you are an employee:

You will normally be able to claim travel to and from a place you work at if you are required to work there over a period of less than two years, or are only required to work there on an irregular basis (e.g. call-outs).

HMRC internal guidance relating to employee travel expenses is here.

Thanks Mr A - was a little bit worried then - thought I had claimed for stuff I wasn't allowed

'Blondes sighs a huge sigh of relief'

As also I don't keep any petrol receipts as I claim mileage

And easier to claim mileage then try and work out % of insurance tax mot servicing etc

Actually how do you work out how much you can claim for a car you use for personal and business use if you don't claim mileage?

As know you obv can't claim for both

Hence why I claim mileage :)

Mrswishywashy - seems your accountant is wrong

I did think it was weird / hopefully you will be getting a huge tax rebate / my mileage last tax year was anything from £50/100 a week depending where I worked

You may need a new accountant :)

I've only had my accountant two years as was audited the year before and it was an awful mess but is now cleared up.

I'm a maternity nurse and don't trade at all in my home, reading this "The cost of travelling from home to place of work is generally disallowed, representing as it does the (private) choice of where to live and that such is separate from the place of work. It does not matter that the taxpayer may at times work at home or keep their business records, materials, tools etc at home. Everyone needs a place to live and the journey from their place of residence to place of work is, at least in part, occasioned by the private choice of where to live. So the journey will have a dual purpose and the cost is not allowable." it appears that I wouldn't be able to claim for travel. I know some maternity nurses claim for the first and last travel to assignments but I choose not to.

I get so confused and am petrified of the HRMC auditing me again that I tend to sit on the over cautious side.

EG most of my maternity nurse colleagues claim on clothing up to £500 per year or if their clothing has embroidery on. I however do not claim on any as my accountant told me that only clothing as worn by Formula One drivers could be claimed for.

And I can make head nor tales of any information that the HRMC provide on their website as it always appears to not be consistent. Sigh, wish the guidelines were in black and white instead of fifty shades of grey.

My accountant was recommended to me by the company that helped me with my auditing by HRMC so kind of trusted his judgement that the accountant would know what he was doing. Not easy at all to do things right.

Hmmmm I was told that clothing I buy for work I can claim for

So basic jeans and cheap v neck t shirts

Obv not underwear

I claim for 33% of my mobile phone as mainly use for work - either google - calls to agency's and families etc

But that's about it

Mr A - can I claim for clothing???

I claim for my uniform, embroidered with the company name, as I obviously wouldn't want to use it for wearing outside work. I also claim for laundering it.

not clothing, unless logo-ed as per HSMM, as one is expected to be decently clad (I forget the correct wording)

Actually how do you work out how much you can claim for a car you use for personal and business use if you don't claim mileage?

You keep the same log of trips to give your total business mileage, and work out what fraction that is of your total mileage (by noting the figure from the odometer at the end of each year). You can then use that fraction to claim part of all motoring costs incurred in the year (fuel, oil, screen wash, servicing, tyres, repairs, insurance, recovery/assistance plan, etc.), and also part of a capital allowance that is complicated, and also part of the interest charge on any borrowing for the car which is also complicated (and note that you can claim this last bit, the interest, even if you are claiming miliage as it is a cost of borrowing not a travel cost).

Clothing: again a complicated, grey area but briefly if it is a 'uniform' you can claim it, if it isn't you can't. An embroided logo is usually enough to turn a top into a uniform but you can't claim for an ordinary pair of trousers or shoes worn with it (shoes in particular are almost never allowable). There is also an exemption for protective clothing but not the sort of protective clothing you wear for child care.

More information for employees and the self-employed.

Laundry can be claimed by employees either against laundrette receipts or on a flat rate. For the self employed it's more of a grey area, if you'll pardon the pun.

Thanks about car stuff. Beautifully explained :)

So easier to keep track of mileage and charge per mile then

I have claimed for clothes before as wear cheap jeans that blondes wouldn't wear when out :)

But that's a no now then?

Naughty mummy - forgot to say thanks for reply. So your dh does the same as me then