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Post Info TOPIC: Claiming for food when out of the office
RuthA


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Claiming for food when out of the office
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Can anyone help me clarify exactly what a self employed person can claim for when they purchase food and drink whilst away on business please?

I've had a look on the HMRC website and found a sheet talking about 'reasonable' amounts being allowable when away from the normal place of business, but I couldn't find any more than that.

I'm thinking that it's OK to claim, say, breakfast when staying away somewhere miles from home, but what about refreshments whilst at a trade fair, for instance?

Thanks a lot.



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Ruth (AFA, ACIB)

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Ruth

When spending time away from home purely for business, bed and breakfast is allowable and then a further £10 per day is probably about all you can get, thats the guidelines for contractors.

P

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semsley


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We pay £12.50 pr day for subsistence plus an extra £6 if breakfast is not included in the hotel. We have a dispensation and do not need receipts for this.

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RuthA


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Thanks for the replies.

Just in case anyone else is interested, I decided to call HMRC and the technician I spoke to said that the general rule for self employed people is that they can only claim when staying away from home overnight, in which case a reasonable evening meal is allowable, but that's it. No lunch or anything else.

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Ruth (AFA, ACIB)

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Ruth

Yes, I would agree with that. These kind of expenses only occur if you have to stay overnight, as lunch is something that you would eat in a normal day anyway. But did he not give an indication to ££?

P

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RuthA


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No, I did ask but she wouldn't be drawn into giving an amount!

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RobH


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Personally I think the hmrc technician isn't following their own guide lines which Iseem to recall is that reasonable subsistence can be incurred if the client is away from normal place of work for 5 hours, if away for ten hours then two reasonable meals will be allowed.

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RuthA


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I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of some written guidance on all of this, could you Rob? I've had a look in my husband's ATT texts and can't find it, although they are not very easy to read at the best of times so I might have missed it.

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RobH


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Hi Ruth,

must admit I have struggled to find the actual guidance but this article from Nichola Ross Martin (and links within) seems to back me up...HMRC are unlikely to argue with Nichola!

http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/item/190678

Rob

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RuthA


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That's brilliant, from that link I googled some key phrases and came up with this:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20090730_en_1#pb2-l1g3

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Ruth (AFA, ACIB)

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Ruth

Thats very helpful, seems any reasonable expense when travelling to a client which is not the usual place of business will be covered.

However, if you go to a client every week, you will not be able to claim for subsistence....

P

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