claiming back rental costs

stan27

Hi everyone, this is a pretty strainght forward problem I have and I hope someone can advise me. My place of work is 160 miles from my home, so I pay about £300 per month rental costs because I couldn't drive that distance evey day, then there is the travelling costs. I used to be a contractor and I claimed loads back, but now I am PAYE and pay it out of my wage after tax and NI. I am a higher rate tax payer and my company does salary sacrifiice for pension and childcare vouchers. Is there anyway I can claim back the tax on the rent I pay or can my company pay my rent and salary sacrifice my wage, thus reducing my rent by 41%. I've tried asking my HR dept about this and they respond with blank looks, so I'm hoping to get some info so I can approach them well armed.

mrkbrrws

Travelling costs from home to your permanent workplace are not allowable for tax purposes.

The accomodation would not be allowable. If your employer paid the rent it would still be taxable, as it is not a specific tax allowance like childcare vouchers or pension contributions. Only job-related accomodation is free of tax, where the job requires you to be on-site, for example.

Ultimately, unless the costs are something that all people doing your job would incur they will not be deductible.

stan27

Thanks for the speedy response. It seems that i'll keep doing overtime to cover my accommodation costs, spend more time away from my home to afford it, and all the time HMRC takes their share without even the slightest bit of help or input. Sorry, can't help being a litlle bitter.

CLAPTON

Whilst I understand your personal unset about the situation its not atall obvious why other tax payers should subsidise other people lifestyle choices.

Some people choose to live near their work and unroot their families to achieve this, others turn down jobs / promotions for the sake of their families lives and accept less income, some move to the country and accept long commutes or living away from home during the week as they see this the best for the family, some choose to live in a small house in a good catchment area whilst other want the biggger house etc.
All very reasonable choices but no reason for these people to be subsidised by every one else.

WestHaddon

CLAPTON wrote: »

Whilst I understand your personal unset about the situation its not atall obvious why other tax payers should subsidise other people lifestyle choices. .

You are either a tax man or a politician because that is exactly the argument that they use.:D

Anything to divert attention away from the fact that this is an iniquitous tax burden that is down for only ONE reason. To hide fact that they want to CHARGE YOU MORE TAX on income that is already taxed. (VAT, DUTY, INSURANCE PREMIUM TAX etc…..)

Going to work is not something that you can avoid if you want to earn money so why is not an allowable expense?

Why on earth do we allow ourselves to be robbed?:mad:

CLAPTON wrote: »

Some people choose to live near their work and unroot their families to achieve this, others turn down jobs / promotions for the sake of their families lives and accept less income,
some move to the country and accept long commutes or living away from home during the week as they see this the best for the family,
some choose to live in a small house in a good catchment area whilst other want the biggger house etc. .

Why do they do this? Out of choice? I think not!
The sooner we grow pair and start electing the people who will stop lying to us and provide some transparency in what we actually pay in tax the better.

When will this happen? NEVER. We are happy to moan and attack anyone else who asks the question. WHY?

CLAPTON wrote: »

All very reasonable choices but no reason for these people to be subsidized by every one else.

This is only subsidy if one person does not pay. We should ALL be reclaiming it as an expense.

"People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people!" V

CLAPTON

Yes of course, what should be a tax deductable expense is a matter of judgement.
Obviously the more things that are tax deductable the greater the tax rates must be in the first place (and the more civil servants and computer systems to administer them.
By and large, personally, I would prefer lower levels of tax and less deductions but that's just my opinion.
The information about where tax is collected and where it goes is freely available if you wish to look.
My experience is that people do make conscious choices about their lifestyle.. types of jobs, where they live, whether to have children, whether to take time out, to work late or not ... sure not everyone has the same choices
Maybe your experiences are different.....