Excuse me while I bang my head against a brick wall

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

European employer on the one side, HMRC on the other and my accountant in the middle. Because of the way the european employer shows 'expenses reimbursed' on the information given to my accountant, HMRC think it should be taxed as a perk. And it isn't It's going to cost me about £70/month in tax unless I can persuade someone to change things. Or I'll have to wait until I can apply for a rebate. This has happened every bloody year for the last 10 years and it's getting boring. I don't know why I'm posting except to vent frustration. Brick wall. Head.

Here Cog have a few

Many thanks. Rolling up sleeves and about to fire off a few e-mails. Feeling of futility postponed slightly..

You need to claim this back as expenses on your tax return. Expenses payments made to an employee in the UK are generally taxed as remuneration but most employers apply for and are granted a dispensation from treating most expenses in this way.

The only way to change this is to get your employer to apply for a dispensation. If they only have a small UK payroll they may not have the resources to do this.

I think my accountant is going to fix the problem by simply not applying the new tax code and leaving me on the old one. If it wasn't going to cost me £1000 I'd be happy to wait until I could settle it through the tax return.

I must be missing something because I don't see how your accountant can affect what your employer pays you

The accountant acts as the UK payroll department for a company based on the continent.

Ah, its their accountant, I see!

You could talk to your employer and tell them that because they haven't got a dispensation it is causing you a problem and they can get the accountant to apply for one.

I've done that lots of times, sadly. Literally years of communication to our FD, backed up by advice from the accountant (payroll manager). The reply I get is that they are doing it correctly according to standard practice in the European country in which HQ is based. Nothing changes