New Locum Pharmacist

Thea

A few questions on self assesment for a first timer.

From the previous tax year (april 08- march 09) for the first 4 months i was PAYE and then went to self employed.

1. Car allowance

On average i get paid 28ppm. So i understand i can claim the difference between that and 40p (ive not done more than 10,000 miles). Can i also claim for petrol allowance and car tax? (obviously this would be a proportion of the costs). I know exactly how many work related miles i have travelled.

Also my car is on a credit agreement so can i claim any interest on the monthly repayments?

2. Travel allowance

Other jobs i take public transport to and the company reimburse me. Some the complete figure (e.g £6.00) some a proportion of that (dependant on the company). If i have spent £6.00 on public transport can i claim this as an expense even if the company has reimbursed me? And if the company pays me nothing at all for can i claim it?

3. Other expenses

I understand these must be work related. How far must you prove this? I have spent alot more on clothes but wish to claim a modest sum of £200 for which i have receipts for. Obviously my work is office related so i can wear the clothes elsewhere (shirts, shoes, suits etc). Would claiming a modest sum be ok?

My mobile phone is PAYG on the orange network. I get free minutes if i top up by so much a month so i make my personal calls after 7pm. Can I proportion a sum of my top ups an expense or all of it.

How does the expense system work. Is it a straight case of £200 for clothes, so £200 is deducted from your tax bill?


Any help will be appreciated. Cheers!

Money_Grabber13579

Thea wrote: »

A few questions on self assesment for a first timer.

From the previous tax year (april 08- march 09) for the first 4 months i was PAYE and then went to self employed.

1. Car allowance

On average i get paid 28ppm. So i understand i can claim the difference between that and 40p (ive not done more than 10,000 miles). Can i also claim for petrol allowance and car tax? (obviously this would be a proportion of the costs). I know exactly how many work related miles i have travelled.

Also my car is on a credit agreement so can i claim any interest on the monthly repayments?

2. Travel allowance

Other jobs i take public transport to and the company reimburse me. Some the complete figure (e.g £6.00) some a proportion of that (dependant on the company). If i have spent £6.00 on public transport can i claim this as an expense even if the company has reimbursed me? And if the company pays me nothing at all for can i claim it?

3. Other expenses

I understand these must be work related. How far must you prove this? I have spent alot more on clothes but wish to claim a modest sum of £200 for which i have receipts for. Obviously my work is office related so i can wear the clothes elsewhere (shirts, shoes, suits etc). Would claiming a modest sum be ok?

My mobile phone is PAYG on the orange network. I get free minutes if i top up by so much a month so i make my personal calls after 7pm. Can I proportion a sum of my top ups an expense or all of it.

How does the expense system work. Is it a straight case of £200 for clothes, so £200 is deducted from your tax bill?


Any help will be appreciated. Cheers!

1. Yes, however you can only claim the tax back on the difference 40p and 28p i.e. if you've done 10,000 work related miles, then you can claim £1200 as an allowable expense, which will be offset against your salary.

2. Anything that the employer pays with regards to public transport is non taxable.

3. You won't be able to claim for clothes as they aren't wholly, exclusively and necessarily for work purposes. If you have a white coat (Although most don't seem to wear it anymore!) that would be allowable, since you probably aren't going to wear it anywhere else! If your mobile is for personal use, then none of that will be allowable.

Keep in mind though that there is a different set of rules for employed people and self employed people! While you were on PAYE, it will be relatively simple from your point of view, however with self-employment, there's going to be a lot more for you (or your accountant) to do.

Thea

Thanks. Im a community pharmacist so the days of the white coat are long gone. To clairify the travel expenses i can claim them or i cant? Also can i claim my car insurance as an expense.

Pennywise

Your 40p per mile covers everything, including financing and fixed costs, so no you can't claim for anything else if you claim the 40p. Also remember that only "business" mileage is claimable, normal home-work commuting isn't, so you have to be very careful not to claim for commuting.

Re clothes, nothing is allowable except for uniforms (with a tag or logo displayed) or H&S clothing, i.e. special eye protection, overalls, etc. Normal clothes are never allowable.

Re travel, you claim your expenses but deduct anything repaid to you, so if you pay £10 for a bus ticket but are only reimbursed £5, you only claim the extra £5. If you pay £5 and are reimbursed £10, then the £5 difference is taxable.

Re expenses generally, they don't come straight off your tax bill, they come off your gross income. So if your income is £20k and you have £2k of expenses, you are only taxed on £18k.

Re your mobile phone, if you are self employed (rather than employed through your own company) you can claim a proportion of the total costs - approximating to the private versus business useage. I'd say that if you spent £25 per month and use the phone half business and half private, your claim would be £12.50 per month - how the free bits are used is irrelevant, it's a straight apportionment of costs versus useage.

vishaldove

1) Can we claim for the computer costs, e.g Ink/paper/stationery etc
2) Can we claim TV license costs?
3) Half of mobile rental (provided your mobile is used for work purposes half the time)
4) Lunch cost
Will it be the full amount that can be claimed (as long as the reciepts are kept)?

vishaldove

Am I correct in calculating mileage?

Lets say, i travelled 30 miles, company gives 25p per mile for anything over and above 20 miles.
So I can claim, 0.40p x 30miles = £12 less (30-20) x 0.25p = £9.50?

Thanks

VfM4meplse

vishaldove, ask yoursellf if your expense is genuinely work-related, or would be generated regardless of your working status.

vishaldove wrote: »

1) Can we claim for the computer costs, e.g Ink/paper/stationery etc

vishaldove wrote: »

3) Half of mobile rental (provided your mobile is used for work purposes half the time)

Both reasonable.

vishaldove wrote: »

2) Can we claim TV license costs?

vishaldove wrote: »

4) Lunch cost
Will it be the full amount that can be claimed (as long as the reciepts are kept)?

You are having a laugh, surely??! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

chrismac1

The 40 pence calculation excludes financing cost. So the business proportion element of the interest on financing the car is allowable. the 40 pence includes repairs and spares, fuel, insurance, depreciation on cost of car. Within that there is around 2.5 pence of VAT on the fuel (varies from car to car) which can be separately claimed for VAT-registered businesses. A lot of accountants around here miss this.

ceeforcat

You state that you are now self-employed and so, when you say that the company pays you 28p per mile, do you mean that you include this on your invoice? Similarly with the public travel. How does the company pay you for this? How does the company pay you for your work?

I have two locum pharmacists on my books.

vishaldove

chrismac1 wrote: »

The 40 pence calculation excludes financing cost. So the business proportion element of the interest on financing the car is allowable. the 40 pence includes repairs and spares, fuel, insurance, depreciation on cost of car. Within that there is around 2.5 pence of VAT on the fuel (varies from car to car) which can be separately claimed for VAT-registered businesses. A lot of accountants around here miss this.

So basically, mileage can be claimed in addition to financing cost. How much financing cost can be claimed, If i pay £257 pe month for my car?


So, If I locum 15 days of the month and use my financed car fo those 15 days and do not use this car at all for any of theother days, can i claim all of £257 or only half?

Thanks
V.S

John_Pierpoint

vishaldove wrote: »

1) Can we claim for the computer costs, e.g Ink/paper/stationery etc
2) Can we claim TV license costs?
3) Half of mobile rental (provided your mobile is used for work purposes half the time)
4) Lunch cost
Will it be the full amount that can be claimed (as long as the reciepts are kept)?

Ah this is a resurrected thread - I was getting confused.

We need to know what you do before trying to answer the "Lunch" question.
HGV driver?