Travel & Subsistence - Ltd Co v Sole Trader

A

accsvalue

Registered User
Messages
51
John is a DIY man. He is based in Raheny, has many clients and operates as a limited company. All his clients are based in Dublin/Meath/Kildare. Can he claim mileage and subsistence using civil service rates when visiting clients in Tallaght, Bettystown, Maynooth etc?

Pat is also a DIY man. The circumstances are exactly the same as above, except that he operates as a sole trader. I am aware that he is not allowed to claim mileage/subsistence based on civil service rates. I also know that he can claim for diesel expenses based on receipts. However, can he be reimbursed for subsistence (sandwiches/coffee) based on receipts too?
 
Revenue are clamping down on motor, travel & subsistence expenses on those that "work from home", on the basis that travel to and from work is not allowable. If John or Pat had a business premises away from their homes, you could make an argument that the motor expenses could be allowable in both cases. Pat won't be re-imbursed for subsistence based on current revenue practices.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Motor Expenses: I can understand clamping down on John/Pat if they are basically "disguised employees" with one client and travelling to and from that client every day. However, if they are visiting many clients it seems very harsh. The self-employed always seem to be treated worse than anyone else.

Subsistence: John (director owning 100% of shares) can claim simply because he is an employee of his own company. In exactly the same circumstances, Pat can't because he is a sole trader rather than a proprietary director. That's an anomaly. Pat must feel like a mug.
 
Yes, but it still doesn't get away from the fact that it's illogical and totally arbitrary.

They are both self-employed yet one can claim subsistence but the other can't.
 
My understanding of this (and does need to be confirmed by a professional) is if John leaves his house every day and goes to his first client and back to his house, this is not allowable expenses. If he then does the same for his second client, then again it is not allowable.

However, if John goes to the client closest to his home first thing in the morning and then proceeds to go to each and every other client from that point and only back to his house at the end of the day, the only disallowed expenses would be the trip from home to the first client and the trip from the last client home, with the intermediate expenses permitted. How John would keep track of this is another matter, but I am sure mileage apps are out there to support this if he wanted to record every trip.

Obviously, this assumes that John does not do regular work for a single client and may have a number of different clients each day.
Example here is say Monty is a gardener who spends all day every second Wednesday with Multinational Ltd taking care of their grounds. This would be deemed Monty's regular place of work every second Wednesday and therefore no expenses permitted travelling to/from the site.

Of course this rule is broken if you are a TD, but that's a different discussion :)
 
accsvalue said:
Thanks for your reply.

.....
Subsistence: John (director owning 100% of shares) can claim simply because he is an employee of his own company. In exactly the same circumstances, Pat can't because he is a sole trader rather than a proprietary director. That's an anomaly. Pat must feel like a mug.
Click to expand...

John is assumed to control where he works as he owns the company therefore is not entitled to claim subsistence.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top