my old accountant used to ask me how many nights out i had had in the year and then when doing my year end accounts he used to put them down at £20 a night and put some claim in against tax {i honestly dont know how its worded or what benefit i got from them}
now he,s retired and i,ve some wizzkid who promises to save me money, and he has so far on a lot of things
Its just this night out thing he doesnt understand, he can see what you can claim as an employer paying a driver a night out allowance but what do you put down as an o/d
I put down £25 x 4 per week with no reciepts, if its good enough for the corrupt scuzzball MP’s its good enough for Johnny Fly sheet…
I was always told, as an owner driver, I couldn’t claim subsistence without a receipt. I could park outside of the savoy, spend a grand and claim it back, but not night out money. Used to just go to a decent pub buy my tea, get a receipt for food, and never had a problem.
I’m pretty lazy with that type of thing, I could never be arsed claiming it to be honest. 
Silver_Surfer:
I’m pretty lazy with that type of thing, I could never be arsed claiming it to be honest.
I rarely did, but didn’t have that many nights out, as I said, was handy that I could treat myself to a really nice bar meal and know it was going against tax.
My accountant always tells me to keep a record of nights out. Not sure how it works and how much I can claim as expense with Income Tax
over the last 10 years my old accountant lodged subsistence as about 5k a year so i,ve just told this new bloke to take an average of the last 5 years {as i cant remember how many nights out} which works out at £4950
dunno if its exactly legal but its still going in
chaversdad:
over the last 10 years my old accountant lodged subsistence as about 5k a year so i,ve just told this new bloke to take an average of the last 5 years {as i cant remember how many nights out} which works out at £4950
dunno if its exactly legal but its still going in
Good luck. My accountant is a proper wuss and if I wasn’t a bone idle stick in the mud, and never seem to make enough to pay big tax… 
Ahhhhhhhhhh He’s mebbe not so bad 
according to my rather naff accountant you cant claim if your a sole trader but you can if your ltd
lee mat:
according to my rather naff accountant you cant claim if your a sole trader but you can if your ltd
Aye, that sounds right.
renaultman:
lee mat:
according to my rather naff accountant you cant claim if your a sole trader but you can if your ltdAye, that sounds right.
sounds right to me as well but…he told me to put it in…honest 
chaversdad:
renaultman:
lee mat:
according to my rather naff accountant you cant claim if your a sole trader but you can if your ltdAye, that sounds right.
sounds right to me as well but…he told me to put it in…honest
I wouldn’t worry at the moment. All the local jails are full of scrap men.
i know, i was in hartlepool the other morning loading paper when they raided the scrap yard next door, was quite comical watching them running round the yard trying to look all innocent while the coppers were trying to work out who was working there and who was in there weighing in
how do you sleep at night but then again if they told you to i suppose its quite well
chaversdad:
i,ve some wizzkid who promises to save me money, and he has so far on a lot of things
Not meaning to wazz on your fire but that sentence sent a shiver down my spine. Trying to get away with stuff that is ‘borderline’ or open to ‘interpretation’ is a dodgy path IMO and if the tax man gets even a whiff that you’re not playing it totally straight, there is a good chance he will come after you. I hate being at the mercy of the accountants and a friend of mine lost a very good business because a ‘whizzkid’ tried something clever and it blew up in his face.
I’ve always told mine that I want it doing properly, keep the bill down wherever possible of course but no scams, no being too clever for your own good, just make it fair - if theres tax to pay I will pay it.
hammer:
chaversdad:
i,ve some wizzkid who promises to save me money, and he has so far on a lot of thingsNot meaning to wazz on your fire but that sentence sent a shiver down my spine. Trying to get away with stuff that is ‘borderline’ or open to ‘interpretation’ is a dodgy path IMO and if the tax man gets even a whiff that you’re not playing it totally straight, there is a good chance he will come after you. I hate being at the mercy of the accountants and a friend of mine lost a very good business because a ‘whizzkid’ tried something clever and it blew up in his face.
I’ve always told mine that I want it doing properly, keep the bill down wherever possible of course but no scams, no being too clever for your own good, just make it fair - if theres tax to pay I will pay it.
dont get me wrong i still pay plenty of tax {in 10 year the least i,ve ever payed is 6k and that included buying a truck,a trailer and a pickup all in the same year!} he,s saving me money in ways my old stuck in a timewarp accountant didnt, hes just claiming for things that are all above board but i didnt know i was eligible for
If your ltd, you are then an employee so entitled to be paid subsistence by you employer (who is you, your company) who can claim vat and set it against tax.
could someone put up what exactly is claimable as a sole trader only
can you claim,say £5 per day for food without any receipts,
and what happens if you invoice a company,they Pay you the ammount,say £600 for the week,how does the taxman know if you have had 1 or 5 nights out,or even none at all,but you claim for the 1 to 5nights out just to reduce your overheads
tonyb70:
could someone put up what exactly is claimable as a sole trader only
can you claim,say £5 per day for food without any receipts,
and what happens if you invoice a company,they Pay you the ammount,say £600 for the week,how does the taxman know if you have had 1 or 5 nights out,or even none at all,but you claim for the 1 to 5nights out just to reduce your overheads
You can’t claim for the night out as a sole trader, just for the expenses you incur spending the night away from home, as an employee of a limited company you can claim the maximum tax free allowance allowed in your particular area. As a sole trader you can claim for nights out, but if you get called in they’ll want to see receipts totalling the amount you claimed for 
tonyb70:
could someone put up what exactly is claimable as a sole trader only
can you claim,say £5 per day for food without any receipts,
and what happens if you invoice a company,they Pay you the ammount,say £600 for the week,how does the taxman know if you have had 1 or 5 nights out,or even none at all,but you claim for the 1 to 5nights out just to reduce your overheads
HMRC have all sorts of powers, they can and do look at tachograph records etc. If they decide to call you in for investigation be prepared to produce all sorts of documentation and have some well thought out explanations, they are not stupid.
My accountant who I have used for years says the basic rule for claiming expenses is:" is it a cost of living or a cost of working"
Accountants can and do claim all sorts of things on your behalf and it will be you that carries the can.