My basic understanding is that a self employed person cannot claim expenses for training if it is to get new skills but you can claim if it is updating existing skills. If you operated via a company then it would not be a problem. This may come down to interpretation though as to whether these are reference books or training manuals?
Do you need them in order to do your existing role or are they to enhance your existing role to enable you to offer other services?
The generally accepted approach is that when training in the first place into a new career then that is not allowable.
Adding additional skills to an existing role in not allowable (except, see below).
Where the acquisition of the new skill is a requirement of the role including acceptable CPD in order to retain membership so that one is able to continue to trade then such is a tax deductible expense of the business.
In my own case, I do not need ACCA in order to trade and I was studying ACCA before I joined the IFA so all costs associated with ACCA studies are from my own pocket (although there is actually an arguement now that I could expense as CPD I choose not to as it is something that I was working towards before IFA so to me it seems wrong for it to be allowable).
I have no time to study it at the moment but once ACCA is out of the way both IFA (which I trade under) and ACCA (which I don't yet) require me to have CPD so I will acquire ATT as CPD which would make the associated expense allowable.
In your case if the body that you are trading under requires CPD in order to retain membership then you have an arguement for study materials to be an allowable expense.
A strange side effect of this is that one could get for example ICB membership which would require CPD so provided that ICB allows you to gain your CPD external to ICB then you could expense AAT or ATT or IAB or IFA or any number of others as CPD through your practice then once you have the new qualification dump the one that you were gaining CPD for.
If however the materials being purchased are not for CPD purposes then they would not be allowable (for example, if you are practicing as a student pre MAAT rather than practicing through a seperate body such as IAB or ICB).
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I think that despite my more wordy reply thats basically a snap.
all the best,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
you win on acronyms though! I thought you worked via a limited company? If so I don't think there is a problem as you are an employee/officer of the company?
Yes, if IAB require CPD and accept AAT study as CPD then they are an allowable expense of your business.
Make sure that such are recorded as CPD in your books.
As mentioned by Rob some books would also have been acceptable as reference. For example the tax books.
I'm not taking ACCA paper P6 but my business buys that study text on tax every year. That one's a reference that also happens to be a study text and is wholly, necessarily and exclusicvely for my business.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Thanks all. I'm working under IAB but doing the final year of AAT alongside this. I will use the AAT books for CPD aswell as to help with the course so I'll buy them through SE earnings.
