What can I claim as expenses
Critical illness insurance
What is critical illness insurance? Critical illness insurance is a type of insurance that may be offered in addition to a Life insurance policy if life has an unexpected turn. The policy will pay out if the holder suffers from one of several ...
Key-man insurance
Key-man Insurance Premiums for a key-man policy are to compensate the company for the loss of profits due to the death, critical illness, accident or injury of key personnel. If a claim is made, any proceeds paid out under the policy will be taxed as ...
Relevant Life Insurance
What is relevant life insurance? Relevant life insurance is a type of life insurance policy designed to provide a tax-efficient way for small business owners to provide life cover for themselves or their employees. It is a death-in-service plan and ...
Travel expenses and the 2 year rule
Temporary workplace Commuting to a permanent place of work is not an allowable expense, but travelling to a temporary place of work may be permitted. However, journeys to/ from your home to a temporary workplace are allowable if the contract is ...
Use of home as an office
Please note this article is for directors of companies, if you are a sole trader please see our other article here. Company directors working from home can claim expenses for using part of their home as an office, however it is recommended to take ...
Garden office
Installing a cabin, shed or something similar in your garden for your business requires careful consideration. If the garden office is used personally, unless very minimal, there will be a personal tax implication. It can be challenging to prove no ...
Mobile Phones
Overview A company may provide one mobile phone to each employee, regardless of any actual business use, without triggering a benefit-in-kind charge. There are no personal tax or national insurance implications for an employee, and it is an allowable ...
Bicycles and Cycling to work
A company may lend or hire a bicycle and cycling safety equipment to an employee. There are no reporting, tax or NIC requirements if the following conditions are met: • The bicycles or equipment are available to all your employees • The bicycles or ...
Entertaining and Subsistence
Entertaining Expenditure on business entertaining, which HMRC defines as ‘hospitality of any kind’, is usually not an allowable expense for tax. This applies to both companies and sole traders. Some examples of entertaining include taking out a ...
Charitable donations
Making Donations Personally If you have made any personal donations via gift aid, you can claim tax relief for these payments through your personal tax return. By donating via gift aid, the charity will have reclaimed 25% extra on your donation. This ...
Tax Free Benefits - How to maximise profit extraction
You may extract value from your business via certain benefits without a personal tax liability. However, the rules surrounding these benefits must be carefully followed to ensure they are allowed. Some only apply to companies and may not apply to ...
Trivial Benefits & Staff parties
Trivial benefits A company may treat its staff to trivial benefit subject to specific rules: Maximum £50 per benefit (including VAT) No more than £300 in a tax year (05 April) per director Must not be in cash Must not be a reward for work done ...
Travel expenses
Travelling and accommodation Travel and accommodation are valid business expenses where they are incurred wholly and exclusively for the business. This can include mileage, public transport, hotels and even food if you are outside your geographical ...
Misc other benefits
Misc other benefits A selection of other expenses/benefits that may be of interest is listed below. Pension advice Pension advice is allowable up to £500 in value per employee. If an amount exceeds this, only the difference would be a taxable ...
Training expenses
Training expenses Training expenses are a deductible expense for a limited company and also exempt from being a benefit in kind on the employee if the training is related to the trade that the person does and improves their skills and knowledge. Any ...
Medical expenses
Medical benefits A company can provide several tax-free medical benefits to its employees that are tax-free. They all have various conditions to be classified as exempt from tax. Free medical check-up An employee is permitted to have one free medical ...
Professional subscriptions
Professional subscriptions Your limited company can pay the professional subscriptions of its directors and employees if they are relevant to your job and on HMRC's approved list. For example, if you have a company that provides legal advice, the ...