Hi - new poster here. I've been struggling with this issue - despite going through the issue in detail with a professional advisor (Chartered Accountant). I searched through the forum but haven't been able to find anything definitive on it yet.
I set up a Ltd Company this year - primarily engaged in consultancy work, with myself as a sole employee. I work from a Home Office, spending 2- 3 days a week here on work for clients, and developing the business, and typically would travel to meet clients on 1 or 2 of the other days, to either discuss the work, or deliver some particular aspects of it. I have multiple clients, spread round different parts of the country, plus one in the UK, and am currently tendering for more there.
My biggest expense currently is travel to and from clients. I have been religiously logging each of the journeys, mileage, date, client, destination, purpose etc - with a view to reclaiming the expenses from the company. I forwarded a sample month's worth of travel to my accountant, who is of the view that despite the fact the Home Office is my normal place of work, the travel expenses cannot be claimed as they are from a Home Office, and as stated in a Revenue Guide Note Part 4-10-01 for Sole Traders (which I'm not btw, I'm an employee of the Ltd Company):
"As a general rule, travel between home and work, even if some work is carried on at home, always carries the purpose of getting home – it facilitates living away from work. The duality of purpose renders the expense non-deductible"
This seems a bit draconian. The travel is claimed wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business, and I genuinely work from home/am not contracting and working in a clients' premises and trying to claim my 'commute' as a taxable expense.
Is my accountant correct in this regard - or is he taking a more extreme interpretation than others might, and leaving me in a position where I'm going to end up paying for all of the business travel out of my own after-tax income ?
Any insight or help much appreciated, thanks.
I set up a Ltd Company this year - primarily engaged in consultancy work, with myself as a sole employee. I work from a Home Office, spending 2- 3 days a week here on work for clients, and developing the business, and typically would travel to meet clients on 1 or 2 of the other days, to either discuss the work, or deliver some particular aspects of it. I have multiple clients, spread round different parts of the country, plus one in the UK, and am currently tendering for more there.
My biggest expense currently is travel to and from clients. I have been religiously logging each of the journeys, mileage, date, client, destination, purpose etc - with a view to reclaiming the expenses from the company. I forwarded a sample month's worth of travel to my accountant, who is of the view that despite the fact the Home Office is my normal place of work, the travel expenses cannot be claimed as they are from a Home Office, and as stated in a Revenue Guide Note Part 4-10-01 for Sole Traders (which I'm not btw, I'm an employee of the Ltd Company):
"As a general rule, travel between home and work, even if some work is carried on at home, always carries the purpose of getting home – it facilitates living away from work. The duality of purpose renders the expense non-deductible"
This seems a bit draconian. The travel is claimed wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business, and I genuinely work from home/am not contracting and working in a clients' premises and trying to claim my 'commute' as a taxable expense.
Is my accountant correct in this regard - or is he taking a more extreme interpretation than others might, and leaving me in a position where I'm going to end up paying for all of the business travel out of my own after-tax income ?
Any insight or help much appreciated, thanks.
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